Chapter 221 Processing Ramie (2)

Xia Tian doesn't dare to say anything about the treatment of ramie to other people, but as a native Chinese on earth and living in an economic zone where ramie is grown, she must have a say.

Many people may have heard the word "Xia cloth" in history books. In fact, this is a cloth woven with ramie. It was once very popular in Chinese history and was a very popular fabric among nobles and common people.

It gets its name because it is light, breathable, and easy to wick away sweat, making it suitable for summer wear.

In 21st century China, this craft of making summer cloth is facing the embarrassing situation of being lost.

Xia Tian has no way to promote Xia cloth on Earth, but can't she promote it here to the live broadcast audience from the future?

As mentioned earlier, ramie is a treasure trove. Under relatively developed industrial conditions, almost every inch of its details can be utilized, but this is obviously impossible in the animal world.

For example, ramie leaves are high in plant protein and are nutritious animal feed, but they don't raise animals here and Siye doesn't eat grass, so they can only be discarded.

The space available for other parts is limited, so they can only be discarded.

The only usable part left, which is also the most important part of the ramie, is the epidermal fibers on the stem.

This is also the earliest fabric raw material in China.

However, it is not so simple to obtain this seemingly simple fabric raw material. It has to go through a total of steps before it can become the "summer cloth" that can be used to make fabric.

The first step is "soaking hemp".

As the name suggests, the ramie grass is picked, cleaned and only the middle stem is left, then soaked in warm water and gently softened. This step is to facilitate the removal of the skin later.

The second step is "peeling the hemp".

After the first step of soaking, the epidermal fibers of the ramie grass have become easy to peel off. At this time, the epidermis should be peeled off in order to proceed to the next step.

In fact, the peeled skin cannot be used directly, but the outer layer of green skin needs to be peeled off again, leaving the "hemp tendons" inside, which is the real raw material used for weaving.

At this time, the hemp rope has begun to take shape, and the next step is to enter the third step - degumming.

Because fresh ramie fibers contain a lot of plant gum and impurities, if they are not processed, it will affect the subsequent separation between the fibers, and the fabric made will not be delicate and soft, so this step is crucial.

However, this step is also very simple. The traditional way is to soak it in water, then scrub it continuously to remove the gum and impurities directly by physical means.

The fourth step is spinning hemp.

That is to say, the degummed fibers are "scraped" into thin threads, and after drying, they are manually arranged into thin threads and stretched out with special tools so as to be arranged into balls.

The last step is to apply the grout.

After the previous step, the linen rope has been arranged and stretched. In order to prevent the lines from sticking together and to increase the hardness of the linen cloth so that it is not easily worn, it is necessary to add this final step of brushing.

This step usually uses rice milk, and it should be boiled thick, but it should be brushed lightly on the surface.

After drying, it can be used directly for weaving.

Xia Tian grew up in a handicraft workshop in her hometown. Not only was farm work no problem for her, but she also had no difficulty processing ramie with her bare hands.

Handmade summer cloth is an intangible cultural heritage! I hope everyone will pay attention to it~

(End of this chapter)