Kapok

The Ceibu pentandra or more commonly known as the kapok tree is a rainforest tree that provides shelter to wildlife, fruits with medicinal properties, a fiber with great characteristics and wood to people. This tree can grow up to 3 metres in diameter and up to 70 metres in height towering over other rainforest trees and is supported by impressingly big roots. The giant of the rainforest sheds its leaves in the dry season, revealing hundreds of 15 cm long leathery pods and small flowers that are pollinated by bats. When mature, the pods burst open revealing a whitish fiber surrounding round brown seeds which are dispersed by the wind.

The kapok shell with the white soft kapok fiber.

Kapok fibers are made of a mix of lignin and cellulose. Each fiber has a wide lumen (central cavity) and thin walls covered with waterproof wax cutin. This unusual combination gives kapok some remarkable characteristics: hypoallergenic, good for insulation, water repellent, 5 time more buoyant than cork, 8 times lighter than cotton by volume and environmentally friendly. The kapok fiber is best used as a stuffing, where it has several advantages over more commonly used materials (pack down firmly and bounciness). Kapok fibers on their own are not suitable for spinning into yarn, as they are too smooth, slippery and brittle but they can be blended with cotton, silk, wool and many more.

NORI offers several products that contain this perfect plant-based fiber. Take a look at our soft fabrics, natural yarns, a designer meditation cushion and of course the famous fiber itself.