Natural Collection Bamboo and Cotton Shower Towel Review

Typical price:

£20

We like:

Bamboo's eco credentials; the fast drying time; the soft texture

We don't like:

That it's poor at absorbing water; that it doesn't fluff up; the non-organic cotton

SmartPlanet judgement:

When you first unpack them, these towels look like a win-win. They're incredibly soft to the touch, and the eco credentials are good -- bamboo's a fast-growing grass that doesn't need pesticides and the factory that makes the towels is based in Belgium. There's only one problem -- they do a mediocre job of drying.

Score:

Contact:

Nice Car Company at http://www.naturalcollection.com
Telephone: +44 (0)845 367 7001

Bamboo's big. Pandas love it for food, film-makers love it for a cinematic backdrop and, recently, treehuggers have begun to love it for the speed with which it grows. The eco-credentials are the reason the material's included in this otherwise normal-looking shower towel. There are also larger bath and smaller hand versions.

The towel's made from 35 per cent organic cotton and 65 per cent bamboo, which -- as well as the fast regenerating green bonus -- also makes the towel dry faster than your average all-cotton one. It looks smart, and the price is fairly reasonable and in line with what you'd expect to pay for a 'normal' one.

We've been testing it for over half-a-dozen washes now, and are sad to report that it's, well, just not very good at drying skin and absorbing water. Ever owned a towel that seemed to push water droplets around your skin? This one's like that. Although it did improve after the first few spins in the washing machine, the towel is just not very absorbent. It's usable, but simply very mediocre at drying.

On the plus side, the bamboo does give the towel a clean-looking sheen, a very soft texture and that faster drying time. When used in the morning, our all-cotton towels at home don't dry until the evening -- this one's dry by mid-afternoon.

The manufacture and materials are also impressively green and ethical. The bamboo comes from China, where it's grown to a catchily-named industry standard, ISO14000. In Plain English, that means it's sourced by a company that's been assessed first-hand and has commitments to reducing climate change-causing gases.

From China, the bamboo is made into the finished towel in a Belgian factory. As you'd expect, working conditions in Belgium are generally very good and there's a minimum wage. The dye is covered by Oeko Tex's 'Standard 100', which is good news for your health and the safety of the towels, but doesn't have major eco-ramifications.

One thing we'd obviously like to see is organic cotton rather than the normal stuff grown with vats of pesticides. The good news is the towel manufacturer is hoping to switch to organic in 2008, but in the meantime this is still a very green and ethical towel -- you just need to ask yourself how much the so-so drying quality will annoy you.

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