I encountered my first bamboo towels nearly 5 months ago, strolling around the gift shop of an exotic Chinese Garden in Vancouver Canada. The bamboo fabric was remarkably soft – so soft in fact I was determined to buy it then and there despite the high price tag of around $70.

I have always been a soft towel nut; unfortunately, my experience with cotton has always been a disappointment. I’ve been told, “you have to wash them on cold if you want them to stay soft,” but then on the other hand, I have been told, “you have to wash them on hot if you want them to get clean.” And so in a relatively short time, those super soft cotton towels on display at the store become just average ordinary boring towels. Some people try to get around this dilemma using fabric softener – but I just can’t bring myself to douse my towels in chemicals. No, I needed another solution-and discovering bamboo towels seemed to be it.

My bamboo towels have remained silky and soft like chenille despite dozens of washings. Yet there is more to make me love bamboo towels than silky softness. I also adore that bamboo is naturally antibacterial. Unlike cotton, I haven’t had the need to wash my bamboo towels with vinegar to remove bad odors, because there aren’t any!

Unfortunately, I’ve recently learned there is a downside to that soft textile. Bamboo itself is extremely fast growing which makes it one of the most Eco-friendly sustainable plants available – however, some of the chemicals used to make bamboo into soft clothing and towels can be quite hazardous to the environment and possibly even your health. Chemical solvents like sodium hydroxide and carbon disulfide may be combined with bleaching which is not a very Eco-friendly thing to do, and is typically known as the Bamboo Viscose Rayon method.

Some companies have begun manufacturing bamboo using the less toxic Bamboo Lyocell method, which I will be on the lookout for next time I need a new bamboo towel. I still think my bamboo towels are the best and its delicious softness is something you must experience for yourself. You don’t even need to travel to an exotic Chinese Garden in Vancouver Canada to do so. Amazon has a fine selection of bamboo towels like these from Think Bamboo on sale for considerably less than the $70 bamboo towels I splurged on.