Trees and plants providemythological and factual stories, and are a vital member of our planet. Banana plantis endowed with virtuous fibres which can be used to make good apparels. Though,the plant is more popular for its fruit, it has been a source of high qualityfibre which is used to manufacture textiles. Banana fibre is a kind of fibreextracted mainly from the barks of banana plant. Similar in appearance to thebamboo fibre, it belongs to bast fibre, and its chemical composition is mainlyof cellulose, lignin, and hemi cellulose.

 

Makingof the Fabric:

 

The stem of the banana plant iscut and processed. The skin is then peeled off, and fibres are extracted. Theextracted fibre is cooked in a big pot of boiling lye, an alkali solution. Afterthe fibre is cooked in this way for several hours, it is then washed to removethe alkali. The fibre is removed from the skin with a bamboo tool. The softfibres are used for weft, while the hard fibres are used for the warp. Thesefibres are immersed in water and squeezed lightly. They are then separated byrunning nails along the fibres from the root moving upwards. Individual fibresare joined together to make one continuous thread. This is a tedious and timeconsuming job requiring much patience.

 

The fibres are now spun in aspinning wheel, while it is made wet frequently to avoid breaking. Now, thethread requires dyeing. The part of the thread that does not require dyeing is boundwith the skin of the plant with a cord. The thread is steamed and then dyed.Once dyed, the binding is removed, and thread is laid out according to thedesign and passed through a temporary reed. The ward is wounded onto the beamand passed through the reed and heddle. The thread is moistened frequently toavoid breaking while weaving. Once the cloth is woven, it is washed, and boiledin an alkali solution. Later it is washed, dried, and neutralized in ricevinegar solution. Finally, the cloth is washed again, dried and ironed.

 

Wear'Fruity'Clothing:

 

Approximately 37 kg of bananastem yields 1 kg of good quality fibre. The outer layer of the plant givescoarse fibres that are very brittle. Normally two to three outer sheaths areremoved, and the intermediate layers are used. The innermost sheaths are alsorejected as they contain pulpy matter.

 

Though the process is tediousand time consuming, these fabrics are in much demand. Lustrous, and lightweight, these fibres are used in spinning highly textural yarn, used forknitting, weaving, embellishment and other decorative purposes. Apparels madefrom banana fibre denote aristocratic status in some countries. These fibresare used in Europe for making socks. In Philippines, these fibres are used formaking garments. In Japan, cultivating banana for cloth making has been atraditional process and has been followed since 13th century. Polypropylenereinforced with banana fibres is used by automobile companies for makingunder-floor protection panels in luxurious cars like Mercedes.

 

 

PotentialApplications:

 

Performance wise, bananafibres are better than bamboo fibre and ramie fibre. They posses many virtueslike high tensile strength, luster, light weight, and good moisture absorption.Banana fibres are mostly used in making handicrafts and home decorative. They havea wide variety of applications in making various products like paper bags,filter paper, greeting cards, decorative papers, pen stands, lamp shades andmany more. These products have a potential market.

 

 

Papers made from banana fibreshave good market in 25 international countries including Europe. These papersare chemical free, and posses' eco friendly qualities, with longevity of 700years. Currently companies make limited application of banana fibres in makingmats, ropes, and composite materials.

 

Application potential of banana fibres has not been exploited fully. Buyers for these fibres are inconsistent, and no systematic way is followed regarding the extraction of fibres. Government patronage and useful applications of this fibre would regularize the demand and enable a sturdy market for these fibre products.

 

References:

 

  1. &sec=article&uinfo=<%=server.URLEncode(1656)%>" target="_blank">http://www.li-fei.com/
  2. &sec=article&uinfo=<%=server.URLEncode(1656)%>" target="_blank">http://www.kougei.or.jp
  3. &sec=article&uinfo=<%=server.URLEncode(1656)%>" target="_blank">http://www.sawf.org