Welcome to the first in a little series of blogs to enlighten you on the mysteries of our super soft sock formula of bamboo, organic cotton, recycled polyester and elastane.
First up: Bamboo at 40%
Bamboo is our superstar magic ingredient that gives Doris & Dude socks their unbeatable softness and comfort.
Now if you’re anything like us before we began our sock making adventure, you hear bamboo, you think panda food.
Well, definitely that is correct, but bamboo is a surprisingly versatile plant that can be turned into all manner of fantastic products with a pinch of creativity and a generous helping of science. In fact, a search of our home kitchen reveals some very useful bamboo products, from a soap dish to baby bowls. It can replace products made from plastic, metal, oil and others. But fabrics?? Turning green, crunchy, woody panda food into smooth, cushiony softness? Here goes…
Ina nutshell – squash it, soak it, spin it. Natural enzymes can turn crushed bamboo into fibres. And fibres can be spun to make threads, and there you have it. Ta-dah! Now, despite the recent weeks of home schooling, we are not science teachers, so that’s as far as we’ll go down that road, but hopefully you can see the process now!
So, why bamboo?
Well, if you’ve got a pair of our socks you know it makes super soft fabric that feels fab next to the skin, plus it’s nice and stretchy, and has natural wicking properties (bye bye sweaty feet) – a winning combination for socks you see.
You probably already know it’s the fastest growing plant in the world (a whopping 15cm per DAY!), but perhaps you didn’t know it can be grown in almost any climate. You can grow a lot of bamboo in a relatively small space, and it’s much more productive than other plants, plus it doesn’t need pesticides or chemical fertilizers, amongst its many benefits, so now you start to see why it puts less pressure on our planet.
Just time for one last fascinating fact: Bamboo absorbs more carbon dioxide than a tree, and produces 35% more oxygen!
Beautiful bamboo – it truly is amazing stuff and we love it.