What's next on the jeans scene? Maybe stone-washed kenaf

Cotton has it; so do linen and silk--the ability to produce garments with the natural look and feel today's consumers demand. Now, textile and clothing researchers at Mississippi State are hoping to add a new name to the list of highly desirable consumer textiles: kenaf.

Kenaf is a fast-growing cousin of both cotton and okra (yes, okra) that is widely grown in Asia. The outer part of the kenaf stalk produces a fiber that has traditionally been used by overseas manufacturers of ropes, burlap-type bags, and other coarse textile products.

Kenaf came to Mississippi in the late 1980s because a group of Delta farmers was interested in the crop as an alternative to cotton. That prompted Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station scientists to begin extensive research on production and management requirements, potential pests, harvest methods, and product development.

The research has paid off with the development of commercial uses for kenaf core, including animal bedding, oil sorbent, and plant growth medium.

About 60 Delta farmers have formed the Mississippi Delta Fiber Cooperative and constructed a kenaf processing facility in Charleston. Two manufacturing plants have located near the Delta Fiber facility and are producing high-quality animal bedding, grass/erosion mats, oil sorbents, and other products from the core of the plant.

While research focusing on uses for the core of the kenaf plant was under way, MAFES scientists Gita Ramaswamy and Catherine Boyd were looking for new uses for fiber produced from the outer part of the stalk.

"Our major challenge was to find a way to extract fiber from kenaf that could be used in good-quality fabric," explains Ramaswamy. "That work began in 1992, and by 1994 we were able to extract quality fibers and were ready to begin work on incorporating them in textile products."

A grant from the National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program and funding from an Agricultural Research Service agreement have supported the researchers in the continuation of their kenaf work. Their research has resulted in a chemical process to make the fibers softer and more pliable.

Ramaswamy and Boyd produced enough yarn from kenaf for samples of hand-woven products, showing that kenaf could be used to make a quality textile fiber similar to ramie or linen.

"When we discovered that kenaf could be successfully blended with cotton, the next big step was to produce fibers chemically in large quantities," Ramaswamy says.

The researchers have produced two kinds of kenaf/cotton fabrics: a plain weave and a satin weave. The satin weave is a 50-50 cotton-kenaf blend crosswise and 100 percent cotton lengthwise. It has a look similar to denim.

Sample apparel of kenaf/cotton was shown at the annual meeting of the International Kenaf Association in March, and samples have been sent to several major clothing manufacturers, including Gap and Esprit.

"Some of the manufacturers are interested," says Ramaswamy. "They like the fact that the material looks natural, is fashionable, and appeals to environmentally conscious consumers."

The next step in moving kenaf/cotton garments into the fashion market is wear testing, now under way. Also, a coalition between industry and Mississippi State is being formed to take the product to the next step of commercialization.

--Bob Ratliff
Agricultural Communications