Bamboo batts...

It’s getting close to Halloween and that’s a good time to talk about batts! Not the black, flying kind, but the white fluffy kind ☺.

I have used cotton batts exclusively for many years. I prefer an organic cotton batt. I do my part where possible to cut down on pesticides in the environment. When Hobbs discontinued their organic cotton batt I was unhappy.

I tend to prefer unbleached batting. I’m not crazy about the bleaching agents used on the cotton being added to the environment. I also wonder what the bleaching process does to the fibers in the long term. For these reasons, and since I don’t usually need a snow-white batt, I buy unbleached batting.

Luckily, Fairfield came out with Bamboo Batting. This batting is 50% bamboo and 50% cotton. Bamboo is a more ecologically friendly fiber. It is my understanding that bamboo requires less water and fewer pesticides. This batting is naturally clean and white – and unbleached! That’s also good. 

I have used the bamboo batt in 3 quilts to date and I’m happy with the way it feels and behaves. This detail from Tree O’ Life gives you an idea of what it looks like in a quilt. Honestly, it looks a lot like cotton. (FYI – Tree O’ Life hung at Paducah earlier this year and will be out in a book next year.)