Ramie

Hemp is a bast fiber harvested from the hemp plant and processed in a manner similar to flax. It is a coarser fiber than flax, darker in color and difficult to bleach. The fiber is strong and durable, and the strands of hemp fiber may reach six feet or longer. Individual hemp cells are 1/2-1 inch (1.2-2.5 cm) in length, and the fiber cross section is polygonal. The fiber is very stiff and contains considerable lignin. Although fine fabrics can be produced from select hemps, hemp is used mainly in coarse fabrics, including sack material, canvas, ropes, and twines. 

Jute fiber comes from a herbaceous annual plant which grows as high as 20 feet. The fibers are extracted from the plant stalk in a manner similar 

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Among the bast textile fibers, the density is close to 1.5 g/cm, or that of cellulose itself, and they are denser than polyester, as shown iu Table 5. Moisture regain (absorbency) is highest iu jute at 14%, whereas that of polyester is below 1%. The bast fibers are typically low iu elongation and recovery from stretch. Ramie fiber has a particularly high fiber length/width ratio. 

Property Cotton Flax Hemp lute Ramie Polyester... 

The microfibrils iu vegetable fibers are spiral and parallel to one another iu the cell wall. The spiral angles iu flax, hemp, ramie, and other bast fibers are lower than cotton, which accounts for the low extensibiUty of bast fibers. 

Fig. 3. Cross sections (500x) of bast fibers (a), fiax (b), hemp (c), jute (d), kenaf and (e), ramie.

Traditional uses for ramie have been for heavy industrial-type fabrics such as canvas, packaging material, and upholstery. Increased production of the fiber in Asia, particularly China, has promoted the use in blended fabrics with silk, linen, and cotton which can now be found on the market. 

Uses Abaca Cantala Henequen Sisal Flax Hemp jute Kenaf Ramie Suim Kapok Coir... 

Vegetable (based on cellulose) cotton (qv), linen, hemp, jute, ramie Animal (based on proteias) wool (qv), mohair, vicuna, other animal hairs, silk Mineral asbestos (qv)... 

There is Httle difference between the wet and the dry stress—strain diagrams of hydrophobic fibers, eg, nylon, acryHc, and polyester. Hydrophilic protein fibers and regenerated cellulose exhibit lower tensile moduH on wetting out, that is, the elongations increase and the strengths diminish. Hydrophilic natural ceUulosic fibers, ie, cotton, linen, and ramie, are stronger when wet than when dry. 

Ramie 300 Good resistance to water, brine, cold oil. 

Volume rami. 98, 420 Volumetric cHiciency, 56 helical, 100 rcciprOL.imiL , " slitimg aiic. 1, U siraiebi lobe, i 22... 

China isenwein, m. (Pharm.) bitter wine ol iron. -gerbsMure, /. quinotannic acid, -gras, n. China grass (ramie), -holz, n. cinchona wood. 

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