Product review: Linenly Bamboo Sheets
Disclaimer: This is a paid review. Nevertheless, I'm writing my honest opinion and experience.
Linenly sent me a set of bamboo sheets to test. Do they really make textile from bamboo? Is it washable? Does it feel different from cotton? Watch me discover bamboo fabric, wash and blind-test the Linenly sheets and try them in the Spanish summer heat.
What is bamboo fabric?I knew flax and cotton, but I had no idea that you can make textile from bamboo. When I applied to test Linenly bamboo sheets, I thought it was just a brand name. I was wrong. You can pulp bamboo into fibers, spin it and weave it into linen. The result is hypoallergic and anti-bacterial and doesnt need fabric softener. Why hadn't I heard of this?
Bamboo plantations go easy on the environment: The roots prevent soil erosion, the plant grows fast with little water. No pesticides nor artificial fertilizer necessary. Bamboo plantations couple development with sustainability, sais this WWF article.
One week after the shipping notification, I held a packet from Linenly in my hands. Inside was a fabric bag with washing instructions printed on one side, the properties of bamboo fabric on the other. The bag was bamboo, too. Inside, folded around a piece of cardboard, were my queen-sized bedsheets: two pillowcases, a fitted sheet and a flat sheet. Watch me unwrap them:
The fabric felt so silky and smooth! I wanted to change the bedsheets right away and relish the luxurious bamboo linen. But first, laundry.
Linenly bamboo sheets come with clear instructions: cold water, no bleach, no fabric softener. I stuffed them into the machine, added detergent for delicate fabric and started the 20 degree programme. So far, so easy.
"Dry naturally" - off we go to the laundry line. These sheets are heavy when wet. Not too heavy for your standad clothes line, but heavier than cotton sheets. They dry in a day and a night.
"Low iron if necessary" - it was necessary. The sheets came out of the machine pretty wrinkly and didn't smooth out while drying. However, I generally don't iron anything if I can avoid it, and two-meter bedsheets are beyond me. My usual cotton sheets don't wrinkle much. I stretch them on the bed and they look fine. The bamboo sheets, stretch them as I might, stayed wrinkly. I didn't mind. The pillowcases were twice the size of my pillows - oops. I cheated and tucked the surplus fabric inside. Time for the test.
Perks of living with a blind man: He blind tests everything. I didn't tell him we had new sheets, I just put them on the bed and waited for the night. Would he notice the difference? He did: "Is this silk? Feels great!"
My bamboo sheets arrived in late spring. We tested them during the last coolish nights. After a week of luxury, it was time to change the sheets. I put the usual cotton back on the bed, cold-washed the bamboo sheets, dried and folded them. While they were waiting in the closet for their second turn, summer came. My husband got this year's first sunburn, and we both stopped wearing pyjamas. On saturday I changed the sheets. Two washings without fabric softener turn towels into sandpaper in Barbastro's chalky water, but the bamboo sateen felt as smooth and silky as before. It didn't look that smooth; again I hadn't ironed the sheets.
Bamboo linen is heavier than cotton. I was afraid it would be too heavy for the first hot night. But Linenly's bamboo sheets surprised me: They turned out to be just as breathable as thin cotton sheets, maybe even more. They felt cool on my skin.
Linenly bamboo sheets convinced me. They're taking turns with my cotton sheets now. The second set of cotton sheets is confined to the closet until further notice.
What I like about the bamboo sheets:
+ sustainable, eco-friendly fabric
+ smooth, silky feeling
+ easy to wash and dry
+ breathable
+ available in several sizes and colours, can mix and match
What I didn't like:
- tend to wrinkle
Overall score: 9,5 / 10.
Wikipedia has an exhaustive article on bamboo textile.
Linenly offers answers to many questions on their FAQ page: How to wash and dry your bamboo sheets, how the fabric affects (or doesn't affect) the environment, and more. You can find other testers' photos and reviews on social media with the hashtag #sleepwithlinenly.
