From Stem to Strip, How Bamboo Products are Made

Transforming a hollow bamboo stem into a high quality bamboo product

Bamboo stems are ready for harvest after 4-5 years. This is very fast compared to (tropical) hardwoods and one of the main reasons why bamboo is ecological. After harvesting the stems are split lengthwise to strips and the outer skin (bark) is removed. Naturally, the strips have a light yellow colour (natural), but can they be steamed to acquire a light brown colour (caramel).

After treating and drying, the strips are ready to be joined in several ways to make the final product.

Assembly of Bamboo Strips

Plain Pressed (PP)

In the Plain Pressed version the bamboo strips are positioned horizontally and glued together. This creates an elegant line pattern with the characteristic bamboo nodes clearly visible.

Side Pressed (SP)

In the Side Pressed version the bamboo strips are positioned vertically and glued together. This creates a narrow line pattern with the bamboo nodes visible in a subtle way.

High Density® ​(HD)

Here the bamboo strips are crushed and then glued under extremely high pressure. This compression increases the density – from around 700 kg/m³ to more than 1000 kg/m³! – which makes the final product much harder. The look of High Density® bamboo is unique: it largely resembles wood with the typical “flames” with the bamboo nodes only slightly visible.

Flexible (F)

In this version the strips are connected using a flexible latex or fabric backing. In addition to using 15 mm wide solid strips also 50 mm wide veneered strips can be used.

CO2 neutral or better over full life cycle

ZenWorks uses MOSO® bamboo to craft our products. The environmental impact of MOSO® products, excluding carbon sequestration effect, was published in an official Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) following EN 15804.