Section+1.1C

=Other Natural Plant Fibers = Home, Section 1.1, Section 1.1A, Section 1.1B, Section 1.2, Section 1.3

Jute fiber is taken from the stem of the jute plant. Successful cultivation of the plant requires fertile soil and a hot, moist climate. Jute is grown in India and Bangladesh and, to a lesser extent, in Thailand and other southeast Asian countries. It is the most commercially important of the bast fibers.
 * Jute**

Jute plants grow from 6 to 16 feet high. The stalks are cut just after the flowers begin to fade. Like other bast fibers, separation of the fiber requires retting. Many jute producers use chemical retting processes with chlorine compounds. After retting, the stems are broken and the fiber is removed.

Jute and other bast fibers such as kenaf and hemp are shorter than flax. The actual fibers in the plant stalk, called "ultimate fibers," have aspect ratios (length divided by width) of only about 150, which makes them difficult to spin.

Jute ranges in color from light to dark brown. Its strength is somewhat lower than that of other bast fibers, but it has similar bending properties. On exposure to air, jute becomes somewhat brittle. It absorbs moisture readily, resists deterioration by microorganisms more than some cellulosic fibers, and is weakened by exposure to sunlight.

Jute has long been in demand as a cheap, useful packaging material. Burlap is one of the major jute bagging fabrics. Jute has also traditionally been used for carpet backings and cordage. Because of recent new competitors with jute, it has been used for alternative, innovative uses such as geotextiles for erosion control, as a cheap replacement for cotton filling yarns in handwoven fabrics in India, and as reinforcement in composite plastic structures (Bide, Collier & Tortora, pp.81-82).

Image of jute plant: (Image taken from http://www.swicofil.com/products/003flax.html)

Ramie, or China grass, comes from a plant in the nettle family. Like flax, the fibers are found in the outer lay of the stalk. A perennial shrub, the ramie plant grows in semitropical regions. At the present time, ramie growth and processing are concentrated in the Philippines, Brazil, and China. Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan process but do not grow ramie.
 * Ramie**

Ramie stalks are planted, and the fiber is harvested the third year after planting. Three crops may be cut each year. After cutting the stems, the leaves of the plant are beaten off, the stems are split lengthwise, and the bark is stripped from them. This yields "ribbons" of bast that are soaked in water until the green outer layer can be scraped off. After drying, this substance, sometimes called China grass, is bundled and shipped.

Before spinning, the fiber must be retted out of the ribbons. Both dew and wet retting, similar to that used with flax, can be done. A chemical retting process that uses sodium hydroxide and an acid rinse has been patented and is used in industrially developed countries.

Ramie has properties similar to flax but is stronger and more lustrous. It is the strongest of all the natural fibers and the most crystalline. Like flax, it has fairly low resilience and flexibility and a high modulus. It is white in color, its absorbency is excellent, it dyes rapidly, and it has good resistance to attack by microorganisms.

The commercial use of ramie had been limited by processing difficulties that made it expensive to produce. Until the chemical retting process was developed, only hand methods could be employed to remove the fiber from the stem. Controlling fiber quality was also difficult. Researchers have developed controls for growth and processing that have made possible the production of uniform quality fibers. Advances in the processing of ramie fibers are proprietary; that is, they are not made available to the public by the manufacturers.

Ramie is used alone or in blends. It is most frequently blended with cotton, linen, or polyester. Ramie fabrics are machine washable but require ironing and may shrink. If blended with adequate quantities of polyester or other synthetics, these fabrics will have easy-care characteristics and little shrinkage. The major use of ramie fabrics, especially ramie blends, in wearing apparel is in sweaters, suits, and pants. It is also used in table linens and fabrics for home furnishings (Bide, Collier & Tortora, pp. 80-81).

Image of ramie plant: (Image taken from http://www.swicofil.com/products/003flax.html)

Kapok, like cotton, grows in a seed pod. The kapok, or ceiba, tree, sometimes called the silk cotton tree, is native to the tropics, often being found in rain forests. Seed pods are gathered when they fall or are cut from the tree. The dried fiber is easily separated from the seeds.
 * Kapok**

Kapok has exceptional resiliency and buoyancy. Its uses have been limited chiefly to stuffings and insulation materials, though, because it is too brittle to be spun readily into yarns. Because of its buoyancy and resistance to wetting, kapok has been used as a filling for life preservers, but other materials have largely supplanted it in flotation devices. It can be found in pillows as an alternative to down or polyester fiber filling. Some consumers may prefer a natural fiber filling that is cellulosic and, therefore, less likely to trigger allergic reactions (Bide, Collier & Tortora, p. 72).

Image of kapok pod and seeds: (Image taken from http://www.how2behealthy.info/the-right-fibre-to-relax-kapok)