Ch. 18 Materials From Plants 🪵📜🥼🧻

Materials from Plants (👄🚫🙊)

Non-edible plant products derived from plants used for textiles, wood, paper, and other materials

Textiles

Woven plant fibers used to make cloth or fabric 👚

Wood

Dense inner layers of woody plants used for construction materials and fuel 🪵🚧⛽︎

Paper 📄

Pressed pulp made from trees or other plants

Linens

Cloth made using fibers from plants

What 3 things do Surface fibers cover?

Plant fibers that cover seeds, leaves, or fruit (ex: cotton)

Example of surface fiber

Cotton

Bast/soft fibers

Clusters of phloem fibers found in plant stems

3 Examples of bast fibers

Flax, jute, hemp

Hard/leaf fibers

Fibers from vascular bundles or veins of leaves

4 Examples of hard/leaf fibers 🎋🌴🌾

Yucca, bamboo, palms, reeds

Common use of hard/leaf fibers

Often used for woven baskets rather than cloth

What is Processing fibers?

Separating plant material from usable fibers

What is Ginning?

Mechanical separation of surface fibers from plant material

Example of ginning machine

Cotton gin

Retting

Using microbes (often in water) to break down soft tissue around bast fibers

Decortication

Physically scraping away unwanted plant matter around hard leaf fibers

Spinning

Process of turning plant fibers into thread or yarn

The 3 steps of spinning are…

1. Clean

2. Comb and lay to strand

3. Twist and stretch strands together

First step of spinning

Fibers are cleaned of dirt and plant materials

Second step of spinning

Fibers are combed and laid parallel to form a strand

Final step of spinning

Strands are stretched and twisted together

Result of spinning

Creates a stronger product than individual strands

Cotton

Most popular natural fiber; comes from fibers around seeds in cotton bolls

List 3 bast fibers:

• Linen

• Jute

• Hemp

Linen

Textile made from bast fibers of the flax plant stem; oldest textile fiber used

Jute

Bast fiber used for twine, rope, burlap, canvas, and carpet backing

Hemp fiber

Bast fiber from cannabis plant used for rope, canvas, and sailcloth

Sisal

Leaf fiber from agave plant used for rope and woven mats

List 2 synthetic/ human-made fibers:

Rayon & Polyester

Rayon

Human-produced fiber made from cellulose derived from wood pulp

Properties of rayon

Weaker and less elastic than plant fibers; absorbs water and dyes easily

Polyester is made from…

Synthetic fiber made from petroleum

Properties of polyester

Stronger and more flexible than cotton but less absorbent of waters and dyes

Synthetic fibers with natural fibers are often…

Often blended together in textiles

Wood (biology definition)

Mass of secondary xylem formed by the vascular cambium as a plant stem widens

3 Uses of wood

Buildings, furniture, musical instruments

Lumber

Wood cut into beams or planks

Plywood

Thin layers of wood glued together with grain at 90° angles for strength

Veneers

Thin sheets of wood attached to surfaces for decorative effects

Wood from angiosperms composed mostly of short, wide xylem vessels

Hardwood

5 Examples of hardwood trees

Oak, pecan, walnut, maple, mahogany

4 Uses of hardwood

Fencing, flooring, furniture, baseball bats

Wood from gymnosperms composed of long, narrow tracheids

Softwood

5 Examples of softwood trees

Pine, fir, cedar, redwood, spruce

3 Uses of softwood

Construction, doors, furniture

Wood as fuel

Wood burned for heating and cooking

Compressed, partially fossilized plant material often from gymnosperms and ferns

Coal

Issue with wood harvesting

Many countries harvest wood faster than it can regrow

Lightweight bark from a species of Mediterranean oak tree 🍾

Cork

4 Uses of cork

Insulation, bottle stoppers, sandals, corkboards

4 Properties of cork

Very light, flexible, absorbent, and floats on water

Material made from pulp of plant cells suspended in water 📄

Paper

Pulp

Plant cells mixed with water to form the base of paper

3 steps of the Paper formation process

Pulp poured onto a mat, pressed to remove water, then dried

Additional paper treatment

Paper may be coated with starch to make it smoother

Ancient Egyptian paper made by hammering strips of sedge plants together in layers

Papyrus

3 Alternative materials for modern paper

Hemp, bamboo, and recycled cotton fibers

Advantage of hemp paper

Lasts longer than wood pulp paper

Advantage of bamboo paper

Bamboo grows faster than trees

Paper made from recycled cotton clothing

Denim paper