How textile materials are obtained from nettles. Healing clothes
The Tobolsk Museum decided to recreate the forgotten technology for producing nettle fabrics. Two centuries ago, the Khanty and Mansi craftswomen mastered it perfectly. Clothing made from this plant, undeservedly recognized as a weed, has truly magical properties. It cools in hot weather, warms in cold weather, does not wrinkle, does not rot, and helps against a hundred diseases. And making fabrics from nettle is much cheaper and more environmentally friendly than from linen and cotton.
The Tobolsk Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve decided to recreate the technology by which some of its exhibits were created. The museum's collections contain traditional clothes Khanty and Mansi, made before the beginning of the 19th century. The outfits, richly decorated with embroidery, are made of slightly grayish, like unbleached linen, quite thin, but thick fabric. But this fabric is not made from linen or cotton, but from nettle.
Women of the Khanty and Mansi peoples wove canvas from nettles two centuries ago. This technology was widespread. Shirts were mainly made from nettle fabric. However, at the beginning of the 19th century, factory cotton production began to develop in Russia, and cotton fabrics fell sharply in price. Indigenous local residents it has become easier to exchange traditional fish products for ready-made cuts cotton fabric than to weave canvas from nettles yourself. After all, such handicraft production was very labor-intensive. Therefore, the technology for making nettle canvas was completely lost.
The museum staff set themselves an ambitious task. They decided not only to completely recreate the technology for making nettle fabric, but also to teach the forgotten craft to their fellow countrymen. Over time, they plan to organize a traveling exhibition “Grass-Fire”. Its visitors will be able to see all the stages of producing tow from nettles, spinning threads and making canvas. Moreover, they will try to weave nettle girdles and belts themselves on a loom, reproduced from surviving samples.
The looms on which nettle canvas was woven among the Khanty and Mansi peoples until the beginning of the 19th century were not much different from other looms of that time used in household. The main difference in the production technology of such fabric was the primary processing of the raw materials and the production of tow.
Who knows, perhaps, after visiting the “Grass-Fire” exhibition and seeing everything with their own eyes, residents of the region will want to revive the undeservedly forgotten craft. After all, nettle has many advantages over other materials used for fabric production. The main one, of course, is the low cost and availability of raw materials. Nettle grows everywhere, requires no care and does not cost money. In addition, it does not need to be protected from pests, weeds or watered.
Expert opinion
biologist, Ph.D. n., SmartNews
— Nettle is a very underrated plant. Without understanding it, she was once and for all written down as a weed. Meanwhile, if we use nettle as a raw material for the industrial production of fabrics, we will receive colossal environmental bonuses. Cotton and flax, which are now grown for this purpose, require protection from pests and weeds. On this moment about a quarter of all pesticides and herbicides used in the world protect these plants. But nettle does not need this. Plus linen and cotton are very capricious, they have high requirements to the climate, place of growth. Nettle is unpretentious and grows everywhere. Cotton and flax consume a lot of fresh water, which has long become a strategic resource. Nettles do not need abundant watering. This is a very environmentally friendly plant, in the thickets of which more than 50 species of insects and birds can live.
Nettles, which readily grow wherever they are allowed, do not need to be transported. huge distances, which reduces transport costs. Combined with all the environmental and economic benefits mentioned above, this makes nettle fabric the material of the future. Although in fairness it should be noted that nettle canvas was appreciated in the past for its cheapness and availability.
Expert opinion
historian, SmartNews
— Fabrics made from nettle were widespread in the Middle Ages. By the way, in addition to canvas, ropes, burlap, and canvas for canvases were made from it. Then they forgot about nettle fabric for centuries and remembered again only during the First World War. Then Germany faced a shortage of cotton necessary for production military uniform. Practical Germans remembered such cheap and accessible raw materials as nettles. The shape made from it turned out to be very durable, light, did not wrinkle, did not rot in wet weather. But what’s most interesting is that it turned out that it protects against cold and heat better than cotton and linen. It has lower thermal conductivity, making it better suited to extreme temperatures. Unfortunately, after the end of the war, nettle fabric began to be perceived as a symbol of wartime hardships, and it was forgotten again.
Nettle fabric is not only practical, but also useful. She saves everything healing properties this plant, the effectiveness of which in the treatment of a number of diseases has long been known and proven.
The stems and leaves of nettle have pronounced antiseptic, antifungal, and hemostatic properties. Therefore, nettle bandages relieve inflammation during radiculitis and muscle pain. They are effective for migraines, pulmonary, uterine, renal, hemorrhoidal and intestinal bleeding.
New collection of nettle clothing under the VitaBazar brand
From time immemorial in Rus' there were craftsmen who wove and spun from everything that came to hand: fireweed, burdock, burdock, quinoa and even boiled pine needles.
In the old days, the so-called “forest wool” was known - a fibrous material extracted from pine needles. To obtain “pine wool,” the needles were steamed, boiled in lye, combed, washed and dried. The resulting fiber was used to make warm knitted items. “Pine” clothing was considered not only warm, but also very useful, preventing rheumatism.
Fabrics were also made from nettles. They were quite widespread.
Nettles for spinning are collected in the spring. This is a ready-made trust, the quality of which was taken care of by nature itself - autumn rains and fogs, winter frost and spring thaw. Thick canvases were woven from long and thin fibers - tows - then sundresses, shirts, towels were sewn, bed sheets- everything you need for a decent dowry. The canvases were bleached in dew and snow, boiled in a decoction of wood ash, or tinted with a decoction of chamomile and cornflowers.
How were clothes made from nettles?
From short and coarse fibers - izgrebya and pachesy - they wove coarse and rarer fabric - the so-called row, which was used for bags, blankets, bedding and capes for carts.
Ropes and ropes were made from unspun fibers. First, the fibers were soaked for 24 hours in a decoction of oak bark for strength. Then they were divided into two parts, one of which was painted black with a decoction of rusty moss. The ropes twisted from fibers of two colors amazed with the intricacy and uniqueness of the design!
Flax, hemp, bamboo, and nettle have an antiseptic, antifungal effect and remove electrostatics. For a city person, such an outfit is a step towards nature.
Nettle waste was used as tow, for laying between logs and sealing cracks when building a new hut. Rough socks-slippers were knitted from nettle yarn, which were worn without taking off during rheumatism, belts that warmed the lower back during radiculitis, and hats, the appearance of which on the head would relieve any migraines.
Back in 4000 BC. people used nettles to make clothes. The “scorching” uniform was also worn by the soldiers of the French Emperor Napoleon. This plant actually has several advantages over flax. Firstly, the yarn made from it is softer, because it is made not from leaves, but from hollow stems. Secondly, due to the same cavity, it has better thermal conductivity than linen. It is cooler in summer and warmer in winter. Thirdly, nettle yarn is much cheaper than linen yarn and its production process does not pollute the environment as much.
Description of the technology for making nettle yarn -
Like flax and hemp, nettle is one of the oldest fibrous plants that man has learned to process.
Now nettles and other plants have been replaced by flax and cotton, which are grown on an industrial scale and in huge quantities. But growing cotton causes enormous harm environment! About a quarter of all pesticides used in the world are used on cotton plantations, depleting the soil, polluting the air and water bodies! In addition, cotton grows only in a certain climate and has to be transported over vast distances.
Nettle is much softer, thinner, silkier and more elastic than hemp, cheaper to grow and produce than flax, and there is nothing to say about the environmental side of the issue. What chemicals, fertilizers, specific climate - this is a weed! Nettles are not afraid of rain or drought, just give it free rein - it will cover the entire territory of Europe with its thickets. And in these thickets more than 40 species of insects and small birds will immediately find shelter.
Last year, the Italian fashion house Corpo Nove began producing clothes made from nettles. The first nettle fabrics were made from German nettles from the banks of the Rhine. Nettle jackets and jeans are a resounding success. Indeed, in addition to the exoticism of the raw materials used new clothes also have therapeutic effect– relieves attacks of rheumatism and relieves allergic reactions. A collection of jeans, jackets, skirts and shirts has been released. It is impossible to get burned by such nettle clothing, since no stinging hairs are used in production. The main concern of fashion designers now is to find farmers who will believe that growing this weed can be beneficial not only environmentally, but also economically.
The idea of making clothes from nettles is not new. Things made from it were very popular in the Middle Ages, but in the 16th century it was replaced by cotton, which was easier to collect and spin. During the First World War, nettles were remembered again. Germany experienced a shortage of cotton, and German uniforms began to be made from nettles. New developments in weaving technologies can make it the latest fashion, and now you can buy clothes made from nettle in an online store.
The production of cotton, so beloved by many, causes enormous harm to the environment. The plant requires a lot of water and regular treatment with pesticides and herbicides to protect it from insects and weeds. About a quarter of all pesticides used in the world are spread over cotton plantations. Their remains pollute the air and water bodies. In addition, cotton grows only in certain climates and must be transported over vast distances.
To be fair, it should be said that nettle fibers were not forgotten by all adults. Even in our time, they are used for spinning threads, preferring to purchased ones, by the indigenous inhabitants of Kamchatka and the Amur region. Strong and durable threads are used to weave bags, baskets and various boxes. In the manufacture of traditional products, along with nettle threads, willow twigs, stems of wild rye (tuveika) and birch bark are used. Quite often they use another fibrous plant that grows in wastelands and burnt areas - narrow-leaved fireweed, popularly called fireweed. The skins of Ivan tea harvested in the fall are carefully removed, separated into fibers, dried and stored.
Nettle tow
Everyone has at least heard how difficult it is to harvest and process flax and hemp. Nettles too, if you do it, as it should be, in the fall. Then it needs to be dried, then soaked for a long time, dried again in order to finally obtain that very trust (as dried and peeled stems of fibrous plants are usually called), from which spinning fibers are extracted. And if you collect nettles in winter and in the first half of spring, then you will have an almost ready-made trust: nature itself - biting rains, dew, frost, fogs and winter thaws - has worked for you...
Nettle stems brought from the wasteland should be thoroughly dried, laid out on the stove or next to the central heating radiator. Then remove small branches and dried leaves. To check the quality of the resulting trust, it is kneaded with fingers and broken in several places. The finished trust should break in your hands with a slight crack, and the fibers should separate from the woody parts of the stem.
CUMMING
The trusts begin processing by kneading it in special mills. The quality of the yarn depends on how conscientiously the stems are kneaded. If you don’t crush it with a hammer, you can’t take it with a spinning wheel, a peasant saying warned. You can make a milling machine, or crusher, for processing a small amount of trust at home - it consists of four parts. Two boards with saddle-shaped cutouts are attached to a wooden base 20 mm thick with screws. WITH inside in the cutout areas, each of the planks is beveled at an angle of 45 degrees. The lever, or beater, is slightly sharpened from below and attached to the beater with a bolt. In turn, the base of the mill is reinforced with screws on a bench or some other stable support. At one time, you can knead only one handful of trusts on the grinder, that is, as much as can fit in your hand. They begin to crush the trust from one of the ends, placing it in the saddle-shaped cutout with the lever raised. After each pressing and subsequent lifting, the trust is slightly turned and moved forward a little. This is done until a handful of trusts is completely crushed. Kneading trusts is more efficient if instead of a mill you use homemade two-shaft or three-shaft mills. Although you can work on them alone, two people are still more convenient and faster. One places the trust between the shafts, the other turns the handle and accepts the crushed stems, called the weight.
CRAPPING
To remove the bonfire - wooden parts of the stem broken into small pieces - from the crushed trust, it is crushed with a special scythe (or scythe), shaped like a large wooden knife, or mower. Trepals are cut from hard wood of oak, maple and birch. Applying frequent sharp blows with a scissor, you can knock out the fire stuck in the fibers as cleanly as possible. Then they place the weight on the stump and carefully pierce it. Usually, after such treatment, the remaining particles of the bonfire are easily peeled off. All that remains is to shake them out, hitting a bunch of them against a round wooden stick or the edge of a bench.
SMACKING
It is especially difficult to separate from the mass the substances located between the fibers in the upper layer of the stem. They can be completely destroyed and removed by sniffing.
To understand the essence of this technique, you need to pick up a small bunch of crushed and frayed nettles and, squeezing them tightly with your fingers, rub them together. Usually, tiny dust particles immediately begin to separate from them and fall down. The fibers freed from them become clean and silky. If you have to process a significant amount of weight, then it is more convenient to hold its bundles not with your hands, but with special tongs. The tongs consist of two birch planks connected by a strip of sheet steel. When sniffing, one end of the beam can be clamped in the muffin with a lever-beater. However, it is much more convenient to use a special clamp with an eccentric roller for these purposes. Moreover, such a clamp will be needed at the next stage of fiber processing - carding. The fixed fibers are grabbed with forceps next to the clamp. Sniffing around section by section, they gradually move from one end to the other. At the next stage, the bundle of fibers is turned over and secured in the clamp with the other end. Now it remains
just handle the end released from the clamp with tongs and proceed to carding the fibers.
CARDING
The fibers prepared for carding are called slivers. Nettle, as well as hemp, fibers consist of long, medium and short fibers. The longer the fibers, the thinner and longer the yarn. To separate long fibers from medium and short ones, in the old days large maple combs mounted on stands were used. But especially long and clean fibers were obtained after repeated carding with so-called combs - small combs and brushes made from pork bristles. The process of combing and smoothing the sliver, or lobes, was called mooing. It required a lot of patience and perseverance: it was necessary to carefully comb and smooth out literally every strand of fiber. From here we went famous expressions“mock”, “mountain” and the like. The nettle fibers secured in the clamp can be combed with ordinary commercially available metal and plastic combs. Before you start scratching, carefully place one strand next to another. They start scratching from free end, gradually moving towards the clamp. At the same time, short, fibrous hairs remain on the comb - rake them out. Fibers middle length combed out with hair brushes were called patches, and the remaining long fibers were called tow. Fabric obtained from tow threads was used for sundresses, shirts, tablecloths, towels, bed linen and other finely woven products. From the raspberry and paches (otherwise - scum and combs) they prepared yarn for coarse cloth - vatolu, from which they sewed blankets, bags, all kinds of bedding and capes for carts. From the same fibers they spun and then wove fabrics with a rare interweaving of threads - ropes and rows, used for household needs. From coarse fibers that were not processed by scrubbing and carding, ropes and ropes were woven and used as tow for laying between the crowns of a log house, as well as for caulking grooves between logs. Canvases woven from tow threads were bleached in dew and snow, and also boiled in lye - a decoction of wood ash. Ropes, twines, burlap and other similar products from izgreb and paches were sometimes soaked for a day in a decoction of oak bark to increase strength and resistance against putrefactive microbes. Sometimes fibers soaked in oak broth were dyed black. To do this, ropes and burlap were dipped into rusty water or a solution of iron sulfate. These ancient methods of bleaching and dyeing can be successfully used today along with modern ones.
From time immemorial, in Rus' there were craftsmen who wove and spun from everything that came to hand: fireweed, burdock, burdock, quinoa and even boiled pine needles.
In the old days, the so-called “forest wool” was known - a fibrous material extracted from pine needles. To obtain “pine wool,” the needles were steamed, boiled in lye, combed, washed and dried. The resulting fiber was used to make warm knitted items. “Pine” clothing was considered not only warm, but also very useful, preventing rheumatism.
Fabrics were also made from nettles. They were quite widespread.
Nettles for spinning are collected in the spring. This is a ready-made trust, the quality of which was taken care of by nature itself - autumn rains and fogs, winter frost and spring thaw. From long and thin fibers - tow - they wove dense canvases - then they sewed sundresses, shirts, towels, bed linen - everything necessary for a decent dowry. The canvases were bleached in dew and snow, boiled in a decoction of wood ash, or tinted with a decoction of chamomile and cornflowers.
From short and coarse fibers - izgrebya and paches - they wove a coarse and rarer fabric - the so-called row, which was used for bags, blankets, bedding and capes for carts.
Ropes and ropes were made from unspun fibers. First, the fibers were soaked for 24 hours in a decoction of oak bark for strength. Then they were divided into two parts, one of which was painted black with a decoction of rusty moss. The ropes twisted from fibers of two colors amazed with the intricacy and uniqueness of the design!
Flax, hemp, bamboo, and nettle have an antiseptic, antifungal effect and remove electrostatics. For a city person, such an outfit is a step towards nature.
Nettle waste was used as tow, for laying between logs and sealing cracks when building a new hut. Rough socks-slippers were knitted from nettle yarn, which were worn without taking off during rheumatism, belts that warmed the lower back during radiculitis, and hats, the appearance of which on the head would relieve any migraines.
Back in 4000 BC. people used nettles to make clothes. The “scorching” uniform was also worn by the soldiers of the French Emperor Napoleon. This plant actually has several advantages over flax. Firstly, the yarn made from it is softer, because it is made not from leaves, but from hollow stems. Secondly, due to the same cavity, it has better thermal conductivity than linen. It is cooler in summer and warmer in winter. Thirdly, nettle yarn is much cheaper than linen yarn and its production process does not pollute the environment as much.
Description of the technology for making nettle yarn -
CUTTING.
FLATING.
SMACKING.
CARDING.
Like flax and hemp, nettle is one of the oldest fibrous plants that man has learned to process.
Now nettles and other plants have been replaced by flax and cotton, which are grown on an industrial scale and in huge quantities. But growing cotton causes enormous harm to the environment! About a quarter of all pesticides used in the world are used on cotton plantations, depleting the soil, polluting the air and water bodies! In addition, cotton grows only in a certain climate and has to be transported over vast distances.
Nettle is much softer, thinner, silkier and more elastic than hemp, cheaper to grow and produce than flax, and there is nothing to say about the environmental side of the issue. What chemicals, fertilizers, specific climate - this is a weed! Nettles are not afraid of rain or drought, just give it free rein - it will cover the entire territory of Europe with its thickets. And in these thickets more than 40 species of insects and small birds will immediately find shelter.
Last year, the Italian House of Nettle Jackets and Jeans was a resounding success. Indeed, in addition to the exotic nature of the raw materials used, new clothes also have a healing effect - they relieve attacks of rheumatism and relieve allergic reactions. A collection of jeans, jackets, skirts and shirts has been released. It is impossible to get burned by such clothes, since no stinging hairs are used in production. The main concern of fashion designers now is to find farmers who will believe that growing this weed can be beneficial not only environmentally, but also economically.
The idea of making clothes from nettles is not new. Things made from it were very popular in the Middle Ages, but in the 16th century it was replaced by cotton, which was easier to collect and spin. During the First World War, nettles were remembered again. Germany experienced a shortage of cotton, and German uniforms began to be made from nettles. New developments in weaving technologies can make it the latest fashion.
The production of cotton, so beloved by many, causes enormous harm to the environment. The plant requires a lot of water and regular treatment with pesticides and herbicides to protect it from insects and weeds. About a quarter of all pesticides used in the world are spread over cotton plantations. Their remains pollute the air and water bodies. In addition, cotton grows only in certain climates and must be transported over vast distances.
To be fair, nettle fibers were not forgotten by all adults. Even in our time, they are used for spinning threads, preferring to purchased ones, by the indigenous inhabitants of Kamchatka and the Amur region. Strong and durable threads are used to weave bags, baskets and various boxes.
In the manufacture of traditional products, along with nettle threads, willow twigs, stems of wild rye (tuveika) and birch bark are used. Quite often they use another fibrous plant that grows in wastelands and burnt areas - narrow-leaved fireweed, popularly called fireweed. The skins of Ivan tea harvested in the fall are carefully removed, separated into fibers, dried and stored.
Part of the prepared material is painted black with a decoction of rusty moss collected in the swamp, containing iron oxide. To give the fibers gloss, add fish fat. Alternating dark and light fibers in a certain order, craftsmen decorate the surface of the products with geometric patterns.
Clothing made from natural materials is becoming a trend in the fashion world. All more people They prefer products made from natural fabrics. One of the proofs of this statement is the huge success of the fashion house Corpo Nove, which became famous for the fact that since 2010 it began to produce the most different clothes from nettles. Buyers of such products appreciated not only the originality of the materials used, but also high quality fabrics. In addition, such clothing has a healing effect due to useful properties the plant used to make it. In our article we will talk about what ramie fabric is, what its features and advantages are.
Ramie plant
A plant such as ramie belongs to the nettle family. IN natural conditions The shrub grows on roadsides in China and Japan. Two types of ramie are used to make clothes ( scientific name- biomeria): green and snow-white. Even in ancient times, people learned to process this crop, using it in spinning. Ramie snow-white reaches 1 meter in height, is unpretentious to external factors(temperature, air humidity). The plant is quite resistant to slight frosts, but such a factor will result in a negative impact on the quality of the fibers. Cultivated in mills East Asia, in particular China, Korea, Japan, India, Pakistan.
Growing
The birthplace of ramie is China. It was in this country that people, since ancient times, began to purposefully grow this plant as a spinning crop. A little later, the cultivation of such a plant began in Bavaria, Belgium, Algeria, Mexico, Brazil, America (in Thailand. In our country, in the 1990s, an attempt was made to grow ramie on the Black Sea coast, but the idea did not justify itself. Difficulties in processing ramie , the lack of a sales market has led to the fact that today this culture in our country they are grown only in small quantities.
Collection of Chinese nettles
First of all, in order to get quality fabric ramie, it is necessary to properly harvest Chinese nettles. This process should be carried out when the growth of the plant slows down and the color of the stem changes from green to brown. If ramie is collected earlier, the fibers will be weak. Fabric made from such material will turn out to be of poor quality, without the characteristic shine, with a damaged structure. If the grass is collected later required period, it will be almost impossible to separate the fibers from the stem. This will lead to loss of time and volume of finished material, and will also increase material costs.
Since ramie is perennial plant, its harvest is harvested 2-4 times a year depending on external conditions.
Fiber Making
Just a few decades ago, Chinese nettle fiber was made exclusively by hand. And today, in some Asian villages, craftsmen process ramie without using chemical substances and mechanized devices. The biggest challenge in making Chinese nettle fabric is separating the fibers from the stem. Such manual labor requires a lot of physical effort and time.
After the creation of special mechanisms “Favier” and “Fora”, designed to separate fibers from plant stems, the process of processing ramie became much faster and easier. However, after the fibers are separated, they require a long drying time. This process takes on average from 3 to 7 days depending on external conditions. Sometimes clothing manufacturers from natural material insufficient attention is paid to the fiber drying process, which leads to a significant deterioration in the quality of raw materials and, as a consequence, to negative impact for finished products. In addition, another difficulty in processing this plant is eliminating the stickiness and pungency of the fibers. Various chemicals are used for this.
The process of making ramie fiber consists of two stages. The first is the primary processing of the plant stem. This process involves directly separating the threads, then drying them and winding them into rolls. The second stage is weaving, that is, making fabric from the obtained fibers. Thus, creating Chinese nettle fabric is a long and labor-intensive process. These factors directly affect the cost of such material and, as a consequence, the price of the finished product. Therefore, such nettle fabric has not yet gained much popularity in European countries.
History of ramie clothing
Today, too, if such a delicate material as Chinese nettle is not processed correctly, poor-quality fabrics are obtained. That is why modern connoisseurs of ramie clothing prefer to purchase raw materials in China or India - these countries have centuries of experience in processing the plant and making high-quality products from its fibers.
Travelers brought white ramie to European countries. As indicated historical facts, Queen Elizabeth I highly appreciated the fabric brought from distant countries. They say that even the bed of this noble person was made of nettles. In addition, materials with similar characteristics were brought to the Netherlands from the Java Peninsula - this fabric was called cambric.
In the 19th century, the plant began to be cultivated in European countries. In some areas, the production of fabric from ramie fibers was established.
In Rus' they spun from various herbs, including nettle. But a plant such as ramie does not grow in this area, so this raw material has not gained wide popularity. Nevertheless, this plant is still cultivated in the Caucasus.
Ramie in modern clothing production
Today, ramie fabric is becoming popular again all over the world. Famous fashion designers They make clothes from this material for world shows. Brands such as Twenty and Twelve, Burberry, and Lanvin produce items from Chinese nettle fibers. Some brands prefer combined materials, others sew things with 100% content of such natural raw materials. Consumers who appreciate the high quality and safety of natural materials note the durability of ramie fabric, as well as such characteristic properties like silky shine, weightlessness, ability to keep cool.
In Korea, there is still a long-standing tradition of holding a Chinese nettle fabric festival. It usually takes place in mid-June. As part of this festive event, shows of clothes made from Chinese nettles are held for several days in a row. Everyone can demonstrate their skills in making various souvenirs from ramie. In addition, guests are treated to dishes in which this plant is used.
Fabric properties: advantages
In terms of external characteristics, ramie looks like this natural fabric like flax. But studies have proven that nettle material is 7 times stronger. In addition, this fabric is moisture resistant. Therefore, ropes and sails were first made from the fibers of this plant, and only later did they begin to sew clothes from this raw material. In addition, high-quality fabric from this plant is distinguished by its airiness and beautiful, silky shine. These characteristics are certainly the advantages of such a natural material as ramie (fabric). The properties of Chinese nettle threads make it possible to make things of varying density: from such raw materials they weave marine ropes, ropes, produce paper and even banknotes, sew towels and bed linen, and also create everyday and festive clothes.
In addition, we will also point out such an advantage of ramie fibers as ease of painting. After drying the plant, the threads acquire White color. This allows for high-quality repainting without the use of additional chemicals.
Nettle fabric is practically resistant to rotting, which significantly extends its service life. We also note that such material does not shrink after washing, maintaining long time your color.
Disadvantages of Chinese nettle fabric
But we can also note the disadvantages of such a material as ramie fabric. First of all, we will indicate such properties as fragility, the appearance of fractures at the bend, and lack of elasticity. In addition, this fabric wrinkles easily, which causes a lot of inconvenience for owners of clothes made from this material. But modern manufacturers eliminate such shortcomings by adding necessary components into the composition of the fabric.
Ramie: material composition
Modern manufacturers, taking into account the characteristic properties of the raw materials, practically do not produce products consisting exclusively of ramie fibers. After all, such clothes turn out to be rough and wear out quickly. Therefore, to eliminate such shortcomings, wool, cotton or flax are added to Chinese nettle fibers (depending on the purpose of the finished product). This creates a combined composition of ramie fabric. What does this give? Clothes from of this material It turns out wear-resistant, breathable, less wrinkled and brittle, while retaining its characteristic beautiful shine and structure.
Note that many jeans manufacturers are increasingly adding Chinese nettle fibers to denim. In this case it turns out soft fabric, capable of passing air. Consumers appreciated this new product on the market denim clothes and are increasingly choosing this natural material.
Manufacturers of ramie clothing
Today, many popular brands of clothing manufacturers produce products made from raw materials such as Chinese nettle. In particular, such global brands as Zara, Mango, and Collins produce clothes from a combined material that contains Chinese nettle fibers. Thus, these clothing brands produce jeans, business suits, blouses and shirts, trousers and skirts made from this fabric. This product enjoys great success on the world market. Therefore, companies continue to expand such production and increase supply volumes.
In addition, manufacturers of products for pregnant women and children are increasingly choosing raw materials such as ramie. In addition to unique external properties clothing made from natural fabrics, according to studies, contributes to the normalization blood pressure, blood flow, eliminating headaches. It is also important to note that this fabric is hypoallergenic. That is why clothes made from such material are recommended to be worn by people prone to skin reactions, as well as expectant mothers and babies.
Fabric care
Clothes made from ramie do not require any special care. Products consisting entirely of fiber from such a plant should be washed by hand. This method will prevent the formation of creases in the material. You can also use a washing machine by pre-setting the program " Delicate clothing"or "Silk". The water temperature should not exceed 40 degrees. For washing, you can use special powders and conditioners for silk. It is better to wring clothes from such fabric by hand or at low speeds of the washing machine.
It is recommended to dry in such a way that the material is not subjected to sharp bending. In this case, the item may deteriorate due to the formation of a break in the fabric. In addition, marks from clothespins may remain on this material, which will be difficult to smooth out. Therefore, it is better to hang ramie clothes freely on a wide crossbar.
Clothes made from natural fabrics (in particular, ramie) are ironed at high temperature. If it is low, it will be quite difficult to achieve desired result. In addition, it is most effective to iron ramie clothes that are still damp.
Does ramie fabric have other components? How to wash combined materials? In this case, follow the instructions on the label. So, if the composition includes wool or cotton, the product should be washed at 30 degrees. It is recommended to iron such materials with wrong side or through You should also remember that cotton shrinks after washing. Therefore, dry such fabric in washing machine Not recommended.
