Joy & Joe Organic Bamboo Stretchy wrap review

The Organic Bamboo Stretchy is the newest stretchy wrap from Joy and Joe.  I absolutely the softness of fabric made from bamboo viscose, and this wrap is no exception.  Made from 49% bamboo viscose, 47% organic cotton and 4% elastane, it is beautifully soft and light. Its thin without being too thin and because bamboo is a thermo-regulating material it feels light and cool enough for summer use but still kept us warm and snuggly during the very chilly week in November that Sheen Slings hosted their Maroon Tester wrap.  It also comes with a cute little matching hat to ensure your little one stays toasty warm!

As well as feeling great to the touch, this wrap is an absolute dream to wrap with.  It has lovely 2 way stretch (it stretches both length-wise and width-wise) and is very easy to ty and there is quite a wide ‘window’ or tolerance zone between tying too tightly or too loosely which makes learning how to tie much easier than other stretchy wraps with a smaller window.  Additionally it has a good level of elasticity - by which I refer to its ability to 'ping' back and not just stretch out and sag when you put a heavier baby in.  In fact the elasticity was enough to support Rachel, who is now almost 1, for an 40 minute nap!

Compared to other wraps on the market, the Joy and Joe Bamboo wrap is most similar to the Hana Baby wrap.  The Hana is a huge favourite here at Sheen Slings - both with me personally and with the majority of those coming to visit the sling library.  And this new Joy and Joe wrap shares many of the same qualities that makes the Hana wrap such a favourite.  In fact, they are so similar that I am not 100% certain that I could tell the Hana and the new Joy and Joe wraps apart if you were to blindfold me.  However, these two wraps do differ in two key areas - price and width.

Price wise, the Joy and Joe wrap at £38 is toward the lower end of the stretchy wrap market and a full £6 cheaper than the equivalent Hana wrap (the Organic standard length).  This for me, would make it a no brainer in choosing a favourite between the two if it weren't for the width.  The Joy and Joe is narrow, very narrow!  At 47 cm it's the narrowest stretchy wrap I've ever encountered, and a good 8cm narrower than the Hana Baby.

Stretchy wraps vary hugely in width.  Prior to testing the Joy and Joe I had seen widths anywhere from 50cm through to 72cm.  That might not seem like a big difference, but just a few cm more or less can make a huge difference to how a stretchy wrap feels and wraps.  Too wide and the stretchy wrap can feel bulky and uncomfortable on the shoulders, and it can feel like just too much fabric to deal with when wrapping.  Conversely, too narrow and it can feel less supportive and maybe less comfortable because there is less to spread out over baby - i.e. for the horizontal band to offer light head support and still cover under baby's bum or even cover baby's legs and toes on a cold day.  To a certain extend ideal width can be a personal preference, with some people preferring less material to deal with and others preferring more to spread out.  But having tried 20+ wraps at this point I have found widths between 54-60cm to be perfect for the vast majority in terms of still being easy to tie, not too bulky but having enough width to spread as desired.  At 47 cm in width the Joy and Joe is extremely narrow and well below my preferred window.

All in all the Joy and Joe Bamboo stretchy wrap is a super soft, gloriously easy to use wrap that combines high quality material with a budget price.  The trade off for this low price, is that it is very narrow.  Leaving you with a choice, would you rather pay extra for the extra width or happy to sacrifice a bit of width for a cheaper wrap?  As ever, the best way to make this decision is to pop to your local sling library and try one for yourself!

-Madeleine

(PS side note - if your thinking of buying this in the maroon colourway, I didn't feel the colour of the wrap could accurately be described as maroon.  It is quite a pinky-red, in some lights appearing to be quite a bright/bold red and in more artificial lights appearing as fuscia)