Bird Garden Mint:

Composition: 47 % Tencel, 53 % combed cotton

Weight: 270 g/m² (according to the manufacturer), 243 g/m² (counted by us)

Size: 6

Shepherd’s carry

 

Bird Garden Orinoco:

Composition: 47 % Tencel, 53 % combed cotton

Weight: 270 g/m² (according to the manufacturer), 257 g/m² (counted by us)

Size: 6

Double cross carry (front cross carry)

Lenkaˈs View:

Before I start talking about Orinoco and Mint themselves, I would like to share a story about how my relationship towards the pattern of Bird Garden evolved. Last summer, when my babywearing career began and I started to be interested in wraps, the world was simply full of Bird Garden – every babywearing group you looked into, every babywearing meeting you went to, you were sure to come across two or three versions of this pattern. And I, as I have already mentioned when writing about Yaro Slings La Vita Violet Repreve recently, simply do not want what the others already have. After some time, the hysteria of Loktu Sheˈs birds has slightly abated, and I got the chance to try Carmina, which is one of the most beautiful Loktu She wraps in my opinion. I even started to consider buying some of birdies to enrich my own stack of wraps. However, the right composition and the right colour have not been released, yet.

After a rather slippery experience with heavyweight Carmina, which contains literally a bucket full of Tencel (73% to be precise), and on the other hand with amazing, smoothly-cooperating Isolda (30% of Tencel) in mind, we were naturally curious about the limited summer edition of Orinoco and the very popular classic among birds Mint – how much Tencel is just enough?

Same composition, same weight, just different colour – are the wraps really identical? When we counted the weight, the result was slightly different (and slightly lower than the manufacturer says, which is understandable in case of worn wraps, because the manufacturer presents the post-wash weight, thus right after washing when the wrap is not stretched and saggy) – when I lay the wraps next to one another, Orinoco seemed to be the thicker and heavier one.

My feelings are slightly different when I compare the two wraps during tying and in the carry. According to my opinion, Orinoco is a little tougher; I had to try a bit harder while tightening and my shoulders were not especially delighted – on the contrary, Mint that seemed to be an ultra-cuddly soft marshmallow for the littlest babies, was very pleasant with Emilka (currently 9kg) in a multi-layer carry in the front as well as on my back during a walk, which took several hours. Its colourful brother did not make me that happy on our trip. Moreover, I kind of felt the slipperiness of Tencel, which was really not the problem of Mint. I have no idea what exactly could cause the difference between the wraps – as I have already written, the wraps should be identical twins (except colour, of course). Perhaps, the fact that Orinoco was more or less brand new, not yet fully broken-in; whilst Mint already underwent lots of tying, testing and wearing, and therefore it was in its best condition. Who knows … However, as I wrote elsewhere, these are just my personal and subjective impressions – one tends to forgive little details and give some credit to a beautiful wrap; on the other hand the tendency might be opposite regarding the less beautiful one. Do you think I have overpraised the very beautiful Mint and wronged Orinoco (which looks a bit like, sorry, pyjamas in my opinion)? There might be a point in it. However, the wraps are slightly different at first touch and behave differently while being tied, indeed (I tested them almost in a sequence during a short period of time, using the same type of carry). And if you are looking for my answer to question “How much Tencel is just enough?”, I am quite sure after this testing that it is something between 40 and 50 per cent for me personally.

In either case, Mint convinced and charmed me – I guess I have found my ˈmust-haveˈ for our future second baby; Orinoco did not convince and charm me that much – however, as you could have already read in our story Loktu She in Paradise, despite my poisonous words about pyjamas, the wrap has many fans and there is certainly a reason for the fact that there are only two sizes left on the eshop. 😉

 Lindaˈs View: 

Lindaˈs view is very similar to Lenkaˈs this time. But one thing at a time.

Mint

This wrap is of beautifully fresh and cool colour, which suggests it is an ideal piece for summer. I have to say that I was curious about this beauty, because I heard everybody praise it. Moreover, when a second-hand piece appears for sale, it is bought at lightning speed. It is no wonder, because the wrap is thin, beautiful and very cooperative – simply a ˈmust-haveˈ for a little baby. It ties basically itself, surprisingly almost does not slip in the carry, although two knots to finish are a must. If only I had been more experienced and enthusiastic wearer, it would have done a wonderful job for me in summer!

The wrap can certainly carry heavier babies unlike its all-cotton brothers; nevertheless it is not for a long walk with 11 kilos, in my opinion. In spite of this I could really have some use of it for the purpose of short wearings in the hot summer we are all currently experiencing. The only detail I dare to criticise is the wrapˈs tendency towards lumps. Of course, this is due to the material and the ˈold ageˈ of the tested wrap. 😀

Orinoco

Oh, Orinoco, you really are not my cup of tea. I generally dislike stripes, especially that narrow and in that variety of colour. That is, of course, only my problem, because when we brought the wrap to our local babywearing groupˈs meeting, many of our fellow wearers were excited about its colours and tying properties. And that is how it is supposed to be.

The stripes of Orinoco are turquoise, orange and pink – I mentioned the colours on purpose, because they are very difficult to capture in the picture (which can be clearly seen not only in the promo photos but in our own ones as well); even in reality, I had to examine the wrap closely to identify them.

The wrap itself felt quite tough and not properly broken-in. We did not get the information about how long the wrap circulates among testers; however, logically the time has to be considerably shorter compared to the ˈelderlyˈ Mint. It cooperated worse than Mint and was not as smooth, but it created a glossy impression. I would really like to re-test it in about 6 months to see whether its properties changed by wearing or not.

In its present condition, the wrap did not really impress me. Even my shoulders did not appreciate its comfort and supportiveness.

Again, I must agree with Lenka that one can forgive a lot to a beautiful wrap, whilst when you dislike the wrap at first glance, the way towards satisfaction is more difficult to find.

You can purchase Mint here: https://www.loktushe.cz/satky/tencel/detail-satek-na-noseni-deti-velikost-3-vzor-bird-garden-barva-mint-1372/,

and Orinoco here: https://www.loktushe.cz/satky/tencel/detail-bird-garden-orinoco-vel-3-satek-na-noseni-deti-1377/#1374