What is Kapok? In the furniture markets, this name is heavily related to cushioning and mattresses. If you never heard of them, you can imagine it as very soft in touch and silky-like cotton natural fiber. In Asia, this particular material is very common for bed, pillow, or bolster filling. But what exactly is Kapok filling? Here is what you should know.
What Is Kapok
Let’s start with the definition of the Kapok itself. The first thing you should know is the fact that kapok is a natural fiber that is also called Java Cotton, Java kapok, or Ceiba. In Latin, Kapok is called Ceiba Pentrandra, a natural seed-hair fiber that came from a fruit bore from the Kapok tree. This particular tree is very common in Asia, especially in Indonesia.
However, a long short story, Kapok is originated from the New World and Africa. But later on, it is transported to Asia and cultivated as the source of floss and fiber. One thing that is very interesting about this tree is the production ability. Instead of blooming every year, some Kapok trees go as long as 4 to 10 years without blooming once.
But once it blooms, the trees can produce up to 4,000 fruits that can reach up to 15 cm long. As the flowers open, it exposes the yellowish-brown, lustrous, and lightweight around 200 seeds of fibers. Later on, the seeds and the fibers separated from the pod by hand. In this process, people will stir the fiber and seed using a basket to separate the two materials.
As the seed and the fibers separated, individual fiber size ranges from 0.8 to 3.2 cm long. It is very small yet very strong at the same time. What makes Kapok filling special is the moisture resistant, resilient, great buoyant, and quick dry aspect. The Kapok production is dominated by Asia and Indonesia, with most of the floss production coming from Java.
An Alternative For A Comfortable And Safe Filling
One of the most common fillings is a sponge, but kapok also has a quite diverse usage. Most of the time Kapok is used as a stuffing for mattresses, pillows, bolsters, or upholstery. The hollow and lightweight aspect makes the product 8 times lighter than cotton. It also has more buoyant than cork and mostly Kapok has very long durability.
Natural And Safe Upholstery
One particular thing regarding the natural and environmental aspect, you can say that Kapok is the best environmentally friendly materials out there.
Organic kapok will consist of 100% kapok fiber that has not chemical, petroleum, or animal substance. It is pure plant-based fiber. The characteristics of Kapok are fluffy, clean, pure, and lightweight features.
All in all, you can consider Kapok material as a great alternative for upholstery filling. It is also highly used for bed, pillow, or bolster. The natural Kapok Fiber filling is one of the safest products great for health.
However, you should choose the top quality product to get the best from it. You can get the best Kapok from Memindo Group at kapokfibersuppliers.com/.