Bananatex is a natural

cellulosic Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to many thousands of β(1→4) linked D-glucose units. Cellulose is an important structural component of the primary cell wa ...

biodegradable Biodegradation is the breakdown of organic matter by microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi. It is generally assumed to be a natural process, which differentiates it from composting. Composting is a human-driven process in which biodegrada ...

"technical"

canvas Canvas is an extremely durable Plain weave, plain-woven Cloth, fabric used for making sails, tents, Tent#Marquees and larger tents, marquees, backpacks, Shelter (building), shelters, as a Support (art), support for oil painting and for other ite ...

fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, and different types of fabric. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is no ...

made of

Abacá Abacá ( ; ), also known as Manila hemp, is a species of banana, ''Musa textilis'', endemic to the Philippines. The plant grows to , and averages about . The plant has great economic importance, being harvested for its fiber extracted from t ...

banana plant fibres (also known as Manila hemp). The plants are grown in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

as part of a

sustainable forestry Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

project in

Catanduanes Catanduanes (; ), officially the Province of Catanduanes (), is an island province located in the Bicol Region of Luzon in the Philippines. It is the 12th-largest island in the Philippines, and lies to the east of Camarines Sur, across the M ...

. Bananatex was developed and is distributed by the Swiss canvas goods company QWSTION and is used in the company's own products as well as in other companies' manufactured goods. Bananatex was developed to have better

wear Wear is the damaging, gradual removal or deformation of material at solid surfaces. Causes of wear can be mechanical (e.g., erosion) or chemical (e.g., corrosion). The study of wear and related processes is referred to as tribology. Wear in ...

characteristics than cotton while being more sustainable. It is less durable than synthetics like

Cordura Cordura is a brand of synthetic fiber-based fabrics used in products such as luggage, backpacks, trousers, military wear, and performance apparel. Cordura was developed and trademarked by E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (DuPont) in 192 ...

, and can biodegrade. Bananatex is sold in a range of colours and is available with or without a natural

beeswax Bee hive wax complex Beeswax (also known as cera alba) is a natural wax produced by honey bees of the genus ''Apis''. The wax is formed into scales by eight wax-producing glands in the abdominal segments of worker bees, which discard it in o ...

waterproof coating.

Development

Bananatex was developed over three years by

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, Switzerland-based fashion company QWSTION, which was founded in 2008 to research renewable materials to replace synthetic textiles. The company was created to address environmental, economic and social sustainability issues of petroleum-based synthetic materials in the textile manufacturing industry. Bananatex was created in collaboration with a yarn

spinning Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

company in

Tainan, Taiwan Tainan (), officially Tainan City, is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in southern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and commonly called the "Taiwan Prefecture, ...

Production process

Unlike

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

and some other natural fibres like

Abacá plants require no pesticides, herbicides or irrigation. This allows mixed-species, organic plantations in areas which were

monoculture In agriculture, monoculture is the practice of growing one crop species in a field at a time. Monocultures increase ease and efficiency in planting, managing, and harvesting crops short-term, often with the help of machinery. However, monocultur ...

oil palm ''Elaeis'' () is a genus of palms, called oil palms, containing two species, native to Africa and the Americas. They are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil. Description Mature palms are single-stemmed, and can gro ...

plantations, and in deforested rainforest cut down for

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

. Growing abacá plants can reduce

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

, increase

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

and enrich the soil. This is accomplished by interplanting abacá with other plant species and by allowing discarded abacá leaves to decompose and return their nutrients to the soil.

Cultivation

The Abacá plants are grown in Catanduanes in the Philippine highlands without the use of water or pesticides. The banana plant is harvested up to three times per year. File:01-QWSTION-BANANATEX-ABACA-LEAVES-LAUSCHSICHT.jpg, 1. Abacá plants have several stalks which can be harvested annually and regenerate fully within a year. File:06-QWSTION-BANANATEX-ABACA-HARVEST-LAUSCHSICHT.jpg, 2. Abacá plants are harvested by “topping”, cutting the leaves with a bamboo sickle, cutting or “tumbling” the stalks. The leaves are compost on the ground, creating a fertiliser. File:12-QWSTION-BANANATEX-TUXYING-LAUSCHSICHT.jpg, 3. The tuxy, the outer layer of the leaf sheath contains primary fibres is separated from the inner layers. File:13-QWSTION-BANANATEX-TUXYING-2-LAUSCHSICHT.jpg, 4. The inner layers contain the secondary fibres and pulpy material. File:14-QWSTION-BANANATEX-STRIPPING-LAUSCHSICHT.jpg, 5.The tuxies are separated by hand using a stripping knife at the harvesting site. File:16-QWSTION-BANANATEX-STRIPPING-LAUSCHSICHT-2.jpg, 6. The fibres are then “combed” to separate them. File:20-QWSTION-BANANATEX-FIBERS-2-LAUSCHSICHT.jpg, 7. The fibres are then air-dried and bundled together before being transported from forest to the trading warehouse of the farmers cooperative. File:23-QWSTION-BANANATEX-ABACA-GRADES.jpg, 8. There they are sorted by colour grades, with lighter coloured fibres being more expensive due to their rarity.

Processing

File:30-QWSTION-BANANATEX-FIBER-PULP-SHEETS-LAUSCHSICHT.jpg, 1. The raw fibres are tied with rope and shipped to Mindanao, Philippines, where they are boiled and pressed into cardboard like sheets which are then shipped to Taiwan. File:31-QWSTION-BANANATEX-PAPER-MAKING.jpg, 2. The abacá fibre sheets are then soaked in water. File:32-QWSTION-BANANATEX-ABACA-PAPER-LAUSCHSICHT.jpg, 3. They are then made into paper which are then cut into strips. File:34-QWSTION-BANANATEX-YARN-SPINNING.jpg, 4. The paper strips are then spun into yarn.

Dyeing and weaving

File:36-1-QWSTION-BANANATEX-YARN-DYEING-2.jpg, 1. The natural white yarn is sent to Qwstion's dyeing and weaving partner in Tainan, Taiwan. They colour the yarn using the yarn dyeing method which is more sustainable than the roll dyeing alternative and certified OekoTex® Standard 100, the highest standard. File:40-QWSTION-BANANATEX-WARPING-LAUSCHSICHT.jpg, 2. The warp yarns are then prepared for weaving. File:38-QWSTION-BANANATEX-WEAVING-3-LAUSCHSICHT.jpg, 3. The yarn is then woven at extra high density. File:48-QWSTION-BANANATEX-LOOM-LAUSCHSICHT.jpg, Weaving looms processing the Bananatex fabric. File:49-QWSTION-BANANATEX-FABRIC.jpg, 4. A natural beeswax coating is added to make the fabric waterproof.

Products using Bananatex

Several companies use Banantex in their products: * QWSTION: produce a range of bags and laptop sleeves. * Good News x H&M: London footwear company Good News and H&M have collaborated on a range of

sneakers Sneakers (American English, US) or trainers (British English, UK), also known by a #Names, wide variety of other names, are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but are also widely used for everyday casual ...

. * Magazin x Softline: Magazin and Danish furniture company Softline have produced a daybed with a Bananatex cover. * PALAIUS: produces the MAE Chair, a handmade steel frame chair with Bananatex fabric.

Material properties

The fibre of Abacá hemp has many different industrial applications due to its extremely high mechanical strength and length of 2 to 3 metres. These mechanical properties make Bananatex strong and durable, while also being soft, lightweight and flexible.

Awards and prizes

* 2020: German Sustainability Award Design 2021 Winner ( Pioneers) * 2019: Bundespreis Ecodesign Winner ( Product) * 2019: Design Preis Schweiz Winner ( Textile Design) * 2019: Green Product Award 2019, Material for Bananatex® by QWSTION * 2019: Cannes Corporate Media and TV Awards 2019, Gold in category: Marketing Communication B2C for Bananatex * 2018: Goldener Hase, Design for Bananatex by QWSTION

External links

Bananatex website

References

{{reflist Brand name materials Bananas