NATURAL VEGETABLE FIBRES
LEAVES
Natural vegetable fibres can be extracted from the stems, leaves or seed pods of specific plants.
Sisal is a fibre
that is extracted from the leaf of the plant.
SISAL
- Sisal is obtained from the leaf of the Agave sisalana plant
- The plant is grown in Central America
- It can be a very tall plant often reaching 6m (20 feet)
- The long fibres are between 1 and 2m (3-6 feet)
- They are extracted by scrapping away the fleshy parts of the leaf
- The fibres are stiff, white, lustrous and very strong
- These stiff fibres can be spun with relative ease if the fibres
are dampened before processing
- The spun yarn is used mainly for mats, rugs, carpets, string and ropes
- Sisal is also used by textile artists to produce wall hangings and sculptures
Click on 'next page'
to read about vegetable seed fibres
