Converting Waste Agricultural Biomass into a Resource - UNEP

Clothes from Banana
Japan, Commercial
Crop
Residue
Process
Equipment
Main Product
By products
Banana
Banana Stalk
Extraction
Spinning wheel
Fibers
Clothes
Technical Description of Technology
The banana is grown, the fiber taken, the thread spun, dyed, woven. Two
hundred banana trees are needed for one roll of kimono cloth. They say that
to get good fiber you need good trees, so the healthy cultivation of the fiberbananas
is a crucial first stage. Adding fertilizer and trimming the plants of
dead leaves and wicks is a part of the job and it's not unusual for the whole
workshop to go out into the fields to tend the banana tees for a day. And it's
another hard process to get them into fibers. Take off the outer skin, boil in a
big pot, and many other fiddly processes - the preparations take much longer
than the weaving.
Detailed Description Process
Kijoka Banana Fiber Cloth
The making of one of these banana fiber cloths is long and much is needed to
be done before weaving can actually take place. The whole process begins
with the cultivation of the banana plant from which the fiber is obtained by
cutting stems and processing them. The fiber is then dyed and is finally ready
for weaving.
1. Cultivation: Leafs are cut and shoots taken out of the banana plant two
or three times a year to make sure the fiber is soft. Mature stems are
cut and the skin is peeled off. The outer fiber is coarse and is used for
tablecloths. The next layer of fiber is used for obi and ties. The next
layer of fiber is called the nahaguu and is used for kimono.
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