What is biochar?
Biochar, often called "black gold," is a type of charcoal made by heating organic materials like wood, bamboo, or agricultural waste without oxygen through pyrolysis. This process turns these materials into a stable, carbon-rich charcoal form with many uses.
Why bamboo biochar is better than wood biochar
Bamboo grows incredibly fast, making it a fantastic source of biochar. Because plants absorb CO2 and release oxygen during photosynthesis, bamboo captures more carbon per acre than any other plant, producing biochar with a high carbon content.
How we use it to make 99.9% antimicrobial bed sheets
We produce our bamboo biochar by burning organic bamboo at 800°C without oxygen and grinding it into a fine powder. This powder is safe for use in fabrics and on skin and has already been successful in beauty products, water filters, and even food and medicines. It eliminates odors, absorbs moisture, and purifies water. We incorporate this bamboo biochar into our patented closed-loop CleanBamboo® process to make the healthiest bedding fabric in the world, ensuring your safety and well-being.
Why bamboo biochar is antimicrobial
Bamboo biochar powder has a highly porous structure with millions of tiny gaps. This structure is excellent at absorbing bacteria and unwanted odors. Bamboo biochar can absorb harmful substances like formaldehyde, benzene, toluene, ammonia, and chloroform at impressive rates. It also inhibits the growth of bacteria, preventing their multiplying and ultimately killing them. Bamboo biochar fiber also breaks down microorganisms on its surface and in the air around it.
SGS, the world's leading testing, inspection, and certification company, has tested ettitude’s Airy CleanBamboo® Sateen+ fabric, which has an antimicrobial rate of 99.9%.
The benefits of antimicrobial sheets
Our Signature CleanBamboo® Sateen fabric is proven to be more breathable, better at moisture-wicking and more durable and longer-lasting than sateen fabrics woven from cotton, bamboo viscose, and tree-lyocell/Tencel. This makes these sheets incredibly comfortable to sleep in, especially for hot sleepers. Thanks to their thermo-regulating properties, these sheets have been scientifically proven to enhance sleep quality (study here).
Our Sateen+ fabric has all the benefits of our Signature Sateen, plus it is infused with 10% organic bamboo biochar making it 99.9% antimicrobial. ettitude’s Sateen+ sheets are deodorizing, antimicrobial, and antifungal, which means you can wash them less frequently, and they maintain freshness. The biochar infusion prevents the growth of bacteria, fungus and mildew, ensuring an even healthier sleep.
How long do these sheets stay antimicrobial?
The biochar is infused at the fiber level, which means it does not get “washed away.” The antimicrobial and deodorizing qualities are renewed with every wash and stay for the lifetime of the product.
How do these sheets feel and do they smell like charcoal?
The biochar infusion itself does not change the hand feel of the fabric and is odorless.
However, our Airy CleanBamboo® Sateen+ sheets do feel different from our Signature Sateen sheets, not because of the biochar but because of a different and upgraded construction at the textile level. They have a more luxurious construction, with increased yarns per inch and yarn counts for a more dense and structured outcome.