In the Philippines, traditional luxury textiles

Pineapple were made and exported to Europe in the 18th

and 19th centuries. These were made by
traditional craftsmen in small quantities.

Pineapple leaf is made of fibre from the waste

leaves of the pineapple plant. These leaves are a
by-product from existing pineapple harvest, so
the raw material requires no additional
environmental resources to produce.
Pineapple fibre is one such natural source of minor
fibre. It has seen rising demand in the eco market A
detailed study on the source, cultivation, extraction and
processing of pineapple fibres reveals that these fibres
can be used as an alternative to leather
HOW
PINEAPLLE
FIBRE MADE?
How is pineapple fibre made? After harvest of the
pineapple fruit, the plant leaves are separated from the
trunk. The fibres are then manually detached from the
leaves by a method of scraping (coconut husks are
good for this) known as decortitation.
Once the leaves have been stripped of their fibres
the leftover biomass is then used as nutrient rich
fertiliser or biofuel so nothing is wasted.
drying the hemp strips by twisting and evenly
spreading under the sun for drying

At the last stage of fibre processing the fibres are

degummed and made into a non woven mesh
which forms the base of the material Piña
Processing the pineapple hemp
fibers into the pineapple leaf
fiber fabric by use of a textile
process. Pineapple fibre is called
Nipis fabric or Pina. The name is
derived from Spanish piña,
meaning "pineapple".
 Spandex
Spandex is a lightweight, synthetic fiber that is
used to make stretchable clothing such as
sportswear. It is made up of a long chain polymer
called polyurethane, which is produced by reacting
a polyester with a diisocyanate.

The polymer is converted into a fiber using a dry

spinning technique. First produced in the early
1950s, spandex was initially developed as a
replacement for rubber. Although the market for
spandex remains relatively small compared to
other fibers such as cotton or nylon, new
applications for spandex are continually being
discovered.
Spandex fibers are produced in four different
ways including melt extrusion, reaction
spinning, solution dry spinning, and solution
wet spinning. Each of these methods involve the
initial step of reacting monomers to produce a
prepolymer.

Then the prepolymer is reacted further, in

various ways, and drawn out to produce a long
fiber. Since solution dry spinning is used to
produce over 90% of the world’s spandex fibers,
it is described.
The first step in the production of spandex is the production of the prepolymer.
This is done by mixing a macroglycol with a diisocyanate monomer.

In dry spinning fiber production, the prepolymer is further reacted with an equal
amount of diamine. This is known as a chain extension reaction

he spinning solution is pumped into a cylindrical spinning cell where it is cured

and converted into fibers. In this cell, the polymer solution is forced through a
metal plate, called a spinneret, which has small holes throughout

The fibers are then treated with a finishing agent. This may be magnesium
stearate or another polymer such as poly(dimethyl-siloxane).

When the spools are filled with fiber, they are put into final packaging and
shipped to textile manufacturers and other customers.
REFERENCES

1. https://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/7192/spandex-the-gen-next-
fibre#:~:text=Spandex%20is%20made%20of%20synthetic,laboratory%20in%201959%2C%20in
%20Virginia.
2. http://www.madehow.com/Volume-4/Spandex.html
3. https://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/3588/characterization-and-treatments-of-
pineapple-leaf-fibre
4. https://www.the-sustainable-fashion-collective.com/2019/06/04/what-is-pineapple-fibre-and-
how-do-you-make-textiles-from-
it#:~:text=How%20is%20pineapple%20fibre%20made,for%20this)%20known%20as%20decortit
ation.