A Towel Made Out Beech Wood: The Millennium Towel
by Justin Thomas, Virginia on 03. 8.06
Bonjour of Switzerland has released a towel collection made from Micro Modal, a 100% beech wood cellulose fiber. Modal is softer than terry toweling and 50 percent more absorbent than cotton. It dries quicker too. Bonjour of Switzerland uses only environmentally friendly dyes in production. The towels range in price from $12 for a wash cloth to $65 for a bath towel. Bonswit appears to be the sole retailer at this time.
Modal is an amazingly soft very drapey fabric and is often blended with cotton. I searched high and low for it, but even here on 7th Avenue the fabric stores had no idea what I was asking for. Then I heard the process to breakdown the pulp is chemical heavy and I gave up the search and moved on to bamboo. I don't have any facts, so if anyone has info I'd love to hear more.
This is great news......but...who can afford a $65 towel????
I found them for a little less at a shop in San Francisco ($50 for a bath towel).
http://www.branchhome.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9&products_id=169
I agree that they are a bit too pricey though. Although I wonder if they also last longer.
-Jay
I passed on bamboo because I had heard that process was chemical heavy! I believe that the company that makes the micro-modal beechwood sheets (Schlossberg of Switzerland) has an Eko-Tex 100 rating, which means that the chemicals are monitored so that they are minimal.
organic cotton actually throws off more dust than regular cotton, so I have reservations about using it for bedding. I am allergic to dust and can't sleep on organic cotton sheets.
I think these beechwood sheets may be the best way to go.