CLOTHING MADE FROM PINAPPLE FIBRE

Dr N.N.Mahapatra

B.Sc( Hons),B.Sc (Tech )(Bom)M.Sc ( Chem ),Ph.D ( Chem ),M.B.A( IMM,Cal)

C.Col  FSDC ( UK),CText FTI ( Manchester ),Int Trg ( Australia)),Sen Mem ,AATCC (USA)

FIC ,FTA , FICS,FIE,FIIChE ,MISTE ( INDIA)

President

COLORANT LTD

(An ISO 9001:2008 & 14001:2004 Certified Company)

3225,Phase IV ,
G.I.D..C.Vatva,
Ahmedabad-382445
Gujarat,India

Many health conscious people love to have Pineapple as their favorite dessert. It’s because of many health benefits of the delicious fruit. It protects from a simple flu as well as fights off free radicals that cause cancer. It cleans the internal system to keep our body healthy through fibers that help in proper digestion. That’s not all, it’s not the only kind of fiber that a pineapple carries. Pineapple leaves are used to obtain Piña, a textile fiber that is used to make fabrics. As such, we are able not only to keep our internal system clean but also to achieve an outer elegant appearance. Piña is a pineapple fiber made from the leaves of a pineapple plant and is commonly used in the Philippines. It is sometimes combined with silk or polyester to create a textile fabric. Piña’s name comes from the Spanish word piña which literally means pineapple

Pineapple is mainly grown in sub-tropic countries including Philippines, Taiwan, Brazil, Hawaii, India, Indonesia and the West Indies.  However the credit for making textile fibers from pineapple leaves  go to the Philippines.  Pina weaving is an age old tradition dating back to Hispanic times.  Pina clothes were said to have reached Greece and African countries many centuries ago.  During 19^th century, pina fabric was much in demand, not only in Philippines but worldwide.  However, when the much cheaper cotton fabrics became popular, its production  ceased and Pina fabric almost disappeared.  Till the mid eighties of 20^th century, pina fiber was nearly impossible to find with only a handful of aging, part time weavers working for its survival.  In fact, Pina has been revived in the recent past two decades only.

Great efforts were made for the revival of this age old tradition and for re-establishing the pina trade.  It started with marketing of pina barong [embroidered traditional garment of Philippines] locally which eventually got popular with the elite.  Traditional pina weaving has survived in spite of all odds and production has since begun to flourish.  Now once again, pina fiber  is globally popular and Pina cloth from the Philippines are being exported to various parts of the world, particularly to North America and Europe.

Kalibo, Aklan is the main and the oldest manufacturer/weaver of Piña cloth in the Philippines which are being exported to various parts of the world most particularly North America, and Europe. Piña weaving is an age-old tradition which was recently revived in the past 20 years. History records suggest that Kalibo’s Piña cloth was traded during the Pre-Hispanic times and reached as far as Greece and Egypt during its heyday. Kalibo is also known for other native products such as handbags made of buri leaves which is a favorite for Caucasian females visiting the town. Pineapple silk is considered the queen of Philippine fabrics and is considered the fabric of choice of the Philippine elite. During the 1996 edition of APEC in the Philippines, world leaders donned a Pineapple silk Barong Tagalog from Kalibo during the traditional group photo.

PRODUCTION OF PINAPPLE  FIBRE –

Since piña is from a leaf, the leaf has be cut first from the plant. Then the fiber is pulled or split away from the leaf. Most leaf fibers are long and somewhat stiff. Each strand of the Piña fiber is hand scraped and is knotted one by one to form a continuous filament to be handwoven and then made into a Piña cloth.

 Fibre from Pineapple leaves for long has been used by Philippine handicraft artisans to produce cloth. Pineapple fibre is considered to be more delicate in texture than any other vegetal fibre. A kilo of leaves may provide up to 15-18 pieces of white, creamy and lustrous as silk fibre about 60 cm long and it easily retains dyes.

It is a painstaking process and involves up to 30 people from the beginning to the end of the process. Fibres of the leaf are scrapped by means of a broken plate or coconut shell and a fast scraper can extract fibre from over 500 leaves per day after which the fibres are washed and dried in the open air.

After which they are waxed to remove the entanglements and then the fibres are knotted and bind into yarns for the next process of weaving it in to fabric. Pineapple fabrics are mainly used for creating Barong Tagalog and other formal wear. It is also used for other products where a lightweight, but stiff and sheer fabric is needed.

It is sometimes combined with silk or polyester to create a textile fabric. The end fabric is lightweight, easy to care for and has an elegant appearance similar to linen. Pineapple silk is considered the queen of Philippine fabrics and is considered the fabric of choice of the Philippine elite

Piña weaving is an age-old tradition which was recently revived in the past two decades and has a lineage going to Hispanic times. Piña cloth was said to have reached Greece and African countries many centuries ago.    

The pina fibers are extracted from the pineapple leaves by hand scraping, decortication or retting. While hand scraping, leaves are stripped by pulling or scraping the fiber away with tools such as porcelain plate, coconut shell, plastic comb and seashells. It is a tedious, time consuming and labor intensive process. The more refined processes include decortication that uses a motorized machine with blades to scrape off the pulp in order to separate the fiber. In retting, the pineapple leaves are immersed in water for some time to soften the plant gums.

After extraction and subsequent drying in the open air, the fibers are waxed to remove any entanglements and then they are knotted and bind into yarns for weaving into fabric. The fibers are hand spun into ivory-white colored and naturally glossy fabric. As the fiber is fine and breaks easily, working with piña is really slow and tedious. One can see the workers constantly knotting the broken threads. However, all these efforts go to produce lightweight, soft, shinning, transparent and somewhat stiff fabric that can be termed as a royal exotic fabric. Sometimes, pina is used to make blended fabrics by combining it with silk fiber or polyester fiber. The resultant fabric is lightweight, easy to care for and has an elegant appearance similar to linen fabrics. Pineapple silk is, in fact, considered the queen of Philippine fabrics. 

  PROPERTIES OF PINAPPLE  FIBRE –          

The piña fiber is softer, and has a high luster, and is usually white or ivory in color. The end fabric is lightweight, easy to care for and has an elegant appearance similar to linen. Pineapple fibers are an ivory-white color and naturally glossy. This delicate and dreamy cloth is translucent, soft and fine with a high luster.

Pineapple fibre  is obtained from the large  leaves of the pineapple plant grown in tropical countries . This natural fibre is white and especially soft and lustrous . It is woven into pine cloth in phillipines islands which is soft, durable and resistant to moisture. This is also used in making coarse grass cloth and for mats, bags and clothing. The leaves need retting ,which is controlled rolling by soaking in water and allowing bacteria to  attack the leaves . The fibres are then separated  mechanically  by scutching ( beating ).The  fibres are bundles of many overlapping cellulosic cells and are much , stiffer and longer than cotton. The cells adhere by means of lignin cements.

As the pineapple leaf fiber fabric or the pina fabric is lightweight but stiff, this sheer fabric can be used in any creative design. These fabrics, apart from environmental friendly, have many other qualities.

• They have beautiful elegant appearance with natural shine, similar to that of linen.
• They are lightweight.
• They blend very efficiently with other fibers.
• They are very soft, even softer than hemp.
• They have better texture than silk.
• They can be washed and don’t need to be dry cleaned.

As the making process of piña fabric is tedious, time consuming and labor intensive, it becomes quiet expensive. However, when worn, one can feel the luxury of this exotic fabric and then its price becomes immaterial. In fact, a garment of piña fabric is categorized as an heirloom garment.  Pineapple  ,being a leaf fibre  and due to its long length it was used  in worsted spinning .  pineapple  fibre was brought from  south India  . It was blended  with polyester tops in the ratio of polyester/pineapple  80/20. Please note that  the yarn was made  then fabric was also made  for  suiting purposes.The feel and look  was  very  good. Pina fiber is often blended with cotton, abaca, and silk to create wonderful light, breezy fabrics. When woven with silk, it’s called piña seda or piña-silk. Piña jusi is blended with jusi (abaca or silk) for strength and sheerness and is less expensive than 100% piña .

Raw pineapple leaf fibres are coarse and harsh, and are normally used for preparation of fancy articles, such as mats, handbags, brushes etc. A study was conducted to develop yarns and fabrics from cotton-pineapple fibre blends for textile applications. Pineapple leaf fiber (PALF) which is rich in cellulose, relatively inexpensive, and abundantly available has the potential for polymer reinforcement.

Bleaching of pineapple  fibre is done by Hydrogen peroxide  at boil . As per requirement  pineapple fibre is dyed  using ME dyes at  60 deg c  or  HE  dyes  at 80 deg c.  Where  high fastness is required in that case  vat dyes are used.

Spinning  of pineapple fibres   on worsted system. It was carried out as follows.

1. blender
2.  carding.
3. combing.
4.  mixing with polyester tops/wool tops./viscose tops.
5. recombing.
6.  gilling
7. roving.
8.  ring frame

With this idea  the synthetic p/v spinning mills  R & D  dept should start  working on using  pineapple  fibres  in synthetc / cotton spinning system.

It will become a value added item  . It will have good export potential.

USES OF PINEAPPLE FIBRES –

Pineapple fibers, primarily used in hand weaving are divided into two groups- the linuan or fine fibers and bastos or coarse fibers. Red Spanish or native variety of piña is mainly used for hand weaving to make valuable items such as traditional Barong Tagalog, wedding attire for men, and blouses for women , kimonos, panuelos, handkerchiefs, table linen, mats, fans, gowns, and other clothing. The smooth Cayenne or Formosa varieties are primarily used in development of Philippine Tropical Fabrics.

A major use for piña fabric is in the creation of the Barong Tagalog and other formal wear that is common in the Philippines. It is also used for other table linens, bags, mats and other clothing items, or anytime that a lightweight, but stiff and sheer fabric is needed.

The pina fabric is decorated by a traditional style of hand embroidery called calado. An embroidered piña garment is known as piña calado. These handwoven fabrics are dyed with vegetable dyes obtained from leaves and bark of various trees. Pina fiber is often blended with cotton, abaca, and silk to make amazing light and breezy fabrics. When woven with silk, it is known as pina seda or pina-silk. Pina jusi is a blend of abaca or silk for strength and sheerness and is less expensive than 100% pina.

NOTE – The author is the first person to bleach and dye pineapple fibres using vat dyes in three shades  like black ,coffee, and navy. Then it was blended with polyester fibre in 80/20 ratio .Safari suit fabric was made at Jayashree Textiles ,Rishra ,Hooghly.