Nettle cord

Milfoil

Has anyone ever tried making cord/string from nettles? I wonder when is the best time of year to collect nettles for this sort of thing?
 

Lillie

Those nettles are Laportea canadensis

But the stinging nettles in the Uk are Urtica dioica

So I don't know if the method would be the same.

I tried weaving out of nettle roots once.
We pulled up some huge ones that ran for yards.
I tried plaiting them when they were fresh, but when they dried they shrunk and it wasn't very good.

Wow!
that was useless info, wasn't it!

right.

Looks like you would do it in a similar way to linen.
You get the stems, and soak them till they have begun to rot a bit. this takes a long time, it loosens the fibres in the stems. It's called Retting.
Then they are pulled across a bunch or comb of spikes, over and over to separate the strands. Pounding may also do the same.

With Linen this is done on coarse spikes, then it is put away and done the next year and the next and the next, putting it across finer spikes every time.
For coearse fabrics or ropes it doesn't have to be done too many times, but for very fine linens it can sometimes take 15 or more years!

I know!
What a process...

There must be something quicker that can give you a usable cord.

And I haven't found any time of year when it should be done. With linen it is before the plant goes to seed.

(I looked into the linen making process once, a few years ago.
I don't know why it sticks in my mind...)

I'd try picking them now, start trying different things. soaking, pounding, perhaps boiling would hurry the process...

Let me know how you get on. I'm always fascinated by how stuff like this is made.
 

Lillie

A strong flax-like fibre is obtained from the stems. Used for making string and cloth, it also makes a good quality paper. It is harvested as the plant begins to die down in early autumn and is retted before the fibres are extracted. The fibre is produced in less abundance than from flax (Linun usitatissimum) and is also more difficult to extract.
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I found that.
early autumn.
Now.

Flax is what you get linen from, and linseed oil.
 

Lillie

Brilliant!

That looks loads quicker then waiting 15 years....:)
 

wytchwood

Wow, some knowledgeable folks round these parts there are! Just thought I'd add, for experimental purposes, that when I juice certain things in my juicer (wheatgrass especially), the fibres left behind are very rope like. If I put the pulp through the juicer again, I get even drier 'rope'. I have often thought it could be made into string or rope. I have a masticating juicer, a Matstone, I don't know if it would work with a centrifugal juicer which most people have.

Let me know how it goes???

Zoe xx
 

Milfoil

Just found this

This seemed interesting:

The Ainu had many clothes :

attush
However, even now traditional "bark" clothes remain. Among bark clothes, "attush" fabrics are well known. Attush fabrics are made from fiber which is obtained from the endodermis of trees such as Elm. Those attush fabrics made from Staff-tree fiber or nettles are called "retarpe," which means white things, because the color of the fabric is white.
Click to expand...

I wonder how they got nettle fibres white?
 

willowfox

Milfoil said:
I wonder how they got nettle fibres white?
Click to expand...

I thought you put a bleach in the pot when you boil the fibres to soften them. There are quite a few natural bleachers around.
 

Milfoil

Just adding to this old thread that I did make some nettle string. Waiting till the nettles are tall and old seems best then once the leaves are stripped off (do wear gloves otherwise it gets rather uncomfortable) simply pull the outer fibre off. It is very strong and resistant. Pulling it off and twisting it while still damp worked better for me than stripping it all and allowing it to dry.

Great for the garden, naturally rots away and makes use of the waning nettles. :)
 
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