This in an interesting article which shows how the absorbability of banana fibre has been used in the making of cheap yet hygienic sanitary napkins.
Making of the Fibre
The stem of the banana plant is cut and processed. The skin is then peeled off, and fibres are extracted. The extracted fibre is cooked in a big pot of boiling lye, an alkali solution. After cooking for several hours, it is then washed to remove the alkali. Using a tool, the fibre is removed from the skin. Soft fibres are used for weft, while the hard fibres are used for the warp. The fibres are immersed in water and squeezed lightly. They are then separated by running nails along the fibres from the root moving upwards. Individual fibres are joined together to make one continuous thread. This is a tedious and time consuming job requiring much patience.
The extracted fibres are made wet to avoid breaking, and are spun in a spinning wheel. The thread is now dyed steamed and dyed. After dyeing, the thread is laid out according to the design and passed through a temporary reed. The ward is wounded onto the beam and passed through the reed and heddle. The thread is moistened frequently to avoid breaking while weaving. Once the cloth is woven, it is washed, and boiled in an alkali solution. Later it is washed, dried, and neutralized in rice vinegar solution. Finally, the cloth is washed again, dried and ironed.
The stem of the banana plant is cut and processed. The skin is then peeled off, and fibres are extracted. The extracted fibre is cooked in a big pot of boiling lye, an alkali solution. After cooking for several hours, it is then washed to remove the alkali. Using a tool, the fibre is removed from the skin. Soft fibres are used for weft, while the hard fibres are used for the warp. The fibres are immersed in water and squeezed lightly. They are then separated by running nails along the fibres from the root moving upwards. Individual fibres are joined together to make one continuous thread. This is a tedious and time consuming job requiring much patience.
The extracted fibres are made wet to avoid breaking, and are spun in a spinning wheel. The thread is now dyed steamed and dyed. After dyeing, the thread is laid out according to the design and passed through a temporary reed. The ward is wounded onto the beam and passed through the reed and heddle. The thread is moistened frequently to avoid breaking while weaving. Once the cloth is woven, it is washed, and boiled in an alkali solution. Later it is washed, dried, and neutralized in rice vinegar solution. Finally, the cloth is washed again, dried and ironed.
This article was interesting , as ive been thinking about appropriate technology and how today craft sectors seem to need such technology in order to make their craft viable for any market.
A funny banana story
A Japanese fruit company has been playing Mozart to its ripening bananas, claiming it produces a sweeter product.
The Japan Times reported they arrive as ordinary unripe, and presumably unmusical, fruit from the Philippines at the Toyoka Chuo Seika fruit company. But then their whole existence changes. Mozart’s "String Quartet 17" and "Piano Concerto 5 in D major," among other works, play continuously for one week over speakers in their ripening chamber, the paper said.
A representative from the fruit company, Isamu Okuda, said the company believes it makes the fruit sweeter. And apparently consumers agree -- the “Mozart bananas,” which made their debut last July, are sold locally for the equivalent of $3.60 a bunch and sales are up over last year’s non-music listening bananas.
http://weber.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/arch/cloth.html
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