Lotus fibre is the new upcoming fibre in the world of textile and fashion.
Lotus fibre is a natural bast fibre which is obtained from the stems of lotus plant. These are grown naturally on lake-Inle and burma lake. and distributed all over India. is the only micro fibre obtained from natural fibres and its a eco friendly fibre. Nelumbo nucifera is the . binomial name of lotus.
Around 250 mtr of thread can be produced by a spinner in a day and 40000 lotus stems are required to make 1 meter of fabric.
Species of lotus fibre are:
Nelumbo lutea: new world (North America)
Nelumbo nucifera: old world (Asia and Australia)
Other species:
N. flavescens- strongly scented lemon yellow
N. alba - bold and beautiful
It is called as luxury textile fiber due to its characteristics like symbol of purity, national flower of India, immortality, divine, purity and holiness. The one who wears lotus fiber fabric feels calm, meditative and peaceful which also cures the wearer from headache, asthama, lung diseases and heart ailments.
Best time for planting lotus is april and its require minimum temperature of 20 degree centigrade and sunlight for 6 hours per day.
structure of lotus fiber:
It consists of cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin,ash, lignin,fat, wax and amino acid. It has 48% crystallinity.
cross of fiber is round or oval.
processing of lotus fiber:
Lotus harvesting: stems of lotus plant are collected when the flowers of the lotus are in full bloom. The deep pink flower consists of best quality fibers.
Extraction of fiber: Lotus fiber extraction is very time consuming and painstaking. The stems of lotus are cut with knife and snapped for 5-6 times. After snapping it reveals 20-30 fine filaments of fiber. And then the filaments are pulled out from the stem and hung to dry and then rolled into single thread.
preparation of yarn: The extracted fibers are placed on a skein to prepare warp yarn. Threads are made up to a length of 40 mtr to avoid entanglement. weft yarn is wound on to bamboo bobbins.
Weaving process: To prevent deterioration the yarns should be woven within 24 hours of being extracted as they are delicate. Weaving can be done by using traditional combodian loom.
After weaving fabrics are dyed by using natural dyes. Yarns also can be dyed in skein forms.
Properties:
It is having the resistance towards pilling.
it has the appearance of raw silk or linen.
It has the color of milky yellow.
It has the property of self cleaning.
It is stiff, cool, lightweight, wrinkle free, stain resistant, crease resistant, water proof, soft, smooth, finer, sustainable and environmental friendly.
The length range of lotus fiber is about 31-50 mm.
The width of lotus fiber ranges form 50 to 90μm.
The fineness of single fiber is 3.963 to 4.516 μm.
Initial modulus is 146.81 cn/dtex.
Breaking tenacity is 3.44 cn/dtex.
Elongation at break is 2.75%.
Density of lotus fiber is 1.1848 g/cc.
The ratio of length to fineness is about 104.
Linear density of lotus fiber is 1.55dtex.
The moisture regain of lotus fiber is 12.32%.
The crystallinity of lotus fiber is 48.50 %.
It is air permeable and comfortable.
It has good elasticity.
It dries fastly.
It absorbs moisture.
It is cool in summer and warm in winter.
It gives best results when blended with silk, cotton, kapok and banana fibers in a different proportions.
Disadvantages:
collection of raw material, spinning and weaving is handmade so the process is time consuming.
It is most expensive fiber and labor intensive.
The yarns should be woven within 24 hours of being extracted to prevent the deterioration.