Indonesia is one of the countries that have great benefactors for kapok industries. Almost in each region, especially in Java, people cultivate kapok for its fibers and seeds. Most of the time, people see that the product is familiar to cotton. But for the easiest example, high-quality kapok fibre suppliers will always show distinctive traits. Here are some of them.
The Kapok Distinguishing Traits You Should Know
Has The Similarity With Cotton Fiber
You should know that the name of Kapok or Capoc, is a silky cotton-like natural fiber taken from kapok tree fruit pod. The long and little pod contains hundreds of seed fibers which separated to get the fiber. In this case, the whole Capoc things are 100% natural plant-based material fiber. Thus, you don’t need to worry about chemical substances in it.
If you consider the increasing popularity, Kapok is also well known as botanically similar to cotton fiber. Both of them come from the plant family that produces silky, soft, and natural fiber. The traits are almost similar and the utilization is also alike. They are good for stuffing, furniture, cushion, and many other uses.
The Transparent And Hollowed Body
Apparently, under the light of a microscope, kapok has such a unique appearance. In contrast with its silky long fiber, researchers found that kapok fiber has a transparent body. It gets more fun since the body itself appears such as a water bubble inside a lumen. It is probably one of the reasons why kapok has high buoyancy traits as well as good at fighting dampness.
From under the microscope, a high-quality product from kapok fibre suppliers appears with a hollowed body and covered fiber tip. It is very unique, considering that the fiber spread out with the cell body getting smaller on top. It also has a very thin yet smooth cell wall. That trait will make this natural fiber prevent any smaller particle to come inside the lumen.
The Kapok Contents
If you taking a look at the contents of kapok, then you will find a high number of Alpha Cellulose. It is around 35-50%, then there is 15 – 22% of lignin, 22 – 45% of lignin content, very small 2 – 3 % wax, and about 10% of moisture. When taking a look at the numbers of lignin, there is no doubt that Kapok has a better antibacterial trait.
Only Mature Pod Will Produce High-Quality Kapok
You might find numerous products of Capoc out there, but the best quality one is those harvested from mature pods. Based on certain research that uses alcohol and HCI, it found that immature pod will produce capoc that have lower strength, color, and sheen traits. On the other hand, the mature fabric will look yellowish-white but compressible.
There is a reason why kapok is also called cotton silk material. It is because of how similar these two are. But nevertheless, the two are different, especially if you consider the body of its fiber. Kapok has a hollow body and is transparent. There is no dangerous substance, and you can always get the best quality product from kapok filling wholesale at kapokfibresuppliers.com.