Fibers, Dyes and Tannins

I. Introduction

-cedar bark hat

-basket weaving Arkansas Ozarks

-grass roof

II. Differences Between Plant and Animal Derived Fibers

-keratin

-cellulose microfibrils wall

-hot water wash?

-reaction to dyes?

-reaction to pests? cotton?

III. Classification of Fibers

1. Seed/Fruit milkweed cotton

2. Bast or Soft (Stems) longitudinal extracted

3. Hard (Leaf)

-length important:  thread  or  paper,etc.

IV. Fiber Extraction

1. retting jute

2. scutching

3. hackling

Other approaches

-ginning

-Eli Whitney

V. Examples of Fibers

A. Seed/Fruit

1. coconut

-coir restoration project floor mats

2. Cotton (Gossypium sp.-Malvaceae)

-fibers epidermis

-G. hirsutum

-G. barbadense Eqyptian cotton

-cotton growing and harvesting in south  growing defoliated harvester

-John Mercer

-permanent press cotton

-natural colored cotton

B. Bast Fibers

1. Jute (Corchorus capsularis-Tiliaceae)

-products

2. Linen from flax (Linum usitatissimum-Linaceae) harvested

-Dead Sea Scrolls 1st century AD

-Shroud of Turin

3. Hemp (Cannabis sativa)

C. Leaf (Hard) Fibers

-Agave sisalana (Sisal)

-Musa textilis (Abacá or Manilla Hemp) high quality paper

VI. Dye and Tanning Plants

A. Dye Plants

-mordant

-Lawsonia inermis (Henna) Lucy

-Indigofera tinctoria (Indigo)

B. Tannins

-natural roles of tannins; anti-herbivory agents

-traditional tree bark tanning

Acacia mearnsii summary

Schinopsis balansae ('quebracho')

-role of tannins in preserving animal hides