ENINE (PVT) LTD, SRI LANKA

Coir Fiber

There are two distinct varieties of coir fiber, white fiber and brown fiber. The fiber extracted from green coconut husk by the natural retting process is known as "white fiber" whereas fiber extracted mechanically from dry coconut husk is "brown fiber". Retting of coconut husk for the production of white fiber is biological process which softens the husks paving way for easy extraction of fiber manually by beating with wooden mallets. It is normally done in the saline back waters that are bestowed with a gentle natural tidal action. There are three process of retting: Net retting, Pit retting and Stake retting.

Net retting

Very good quality fiber is produced in this method. In this process, the husks are filled inside a net made out of coir yarn and toyed to the retting field. The bundles are then weighed down using mud.

Stake retting

In this method, husks are filled in the enclosures made out of bamboo stakes and covered with mud.

Pit retting

The bottom of the pits are covered with mud and sides with plated coconut leaves or coir yarn nets. The entire pit or nets are filled with fully matured green husk. The bundles are piled appropriately in such a manner and they are not disrupted and left for a period varying from 4-12 months.

After about 4 weeks of soaking the water gets warm up, becomes cloudy and yellowish white covering is formed on the surface. Exhale of gas bubbles is observed with the smell of hydrogen supplied which subsides after a period of approximately 4 months. The retted husks are taken out from the soaking pits and beaten manually by wooden mallets to separate the fiber from the embedded pith. The extracted fiber is cleaned properly and dried under shade for further processing. The fiber is graded in accordance with its colour, length of fiber and other factors. There are three main categories: 1st Grade ( One tie,2 tie), 2nd Grade ( matters fiber ), 3rd Grade (waste fiber or shorts fiber )