Jute fibre     click here

Jute producing area   click here 

Chemical composition of jute fibre    click here

Properties of jute fiber   click here

Features of jute fiber    click here

Jute gradation    click here

Factors affecting gradation of jute     clich here

Kutcha grading of jute     click here

Production and processing of jute     click here

Bleaching and Dyeing jute fibre      click here

End uses of jute goods       click here

 

 

Jute:

In common with other bast fibers, jutes has been used by man since prehistoric times. It comes from the inner bark of plants of the genus corchorus, which probably originated in the mediterranean area and was subsequently taken to india where it now grows profusely. Jute fabrics formed the ‘sackcloth’ of bibical times.

The jute plant flourishes in hot, damp regions of asia, and jute has for centuries been grown in enormous quantities for textile purposes. It is now produce in greater quantity than any textile fiber other than cotton

During the latter half of the eighteenth century, the first shipments of jute reached western europe from india. In 1820, jute was spun experimentally at abingdon near oxford. The new fiber was of immediate interest to the flax and hemp spinners located at dundee in scotland. The napoleonic wars had cut off supplies of hemp and flax from russia, and the dundee mills began spinning jute in 1822. After ten years of experiment, the dundee manufacturers were able to spin jute satisfactorily, and by 1850 the jute industry was well established. It was given further encouragement by the crimean war which cut off hemp and flax supplies in 1853, and by the american civil ear of 1861-65 which interrupted took up the spinning and weaving of jute, dundee has remained a centre of the industry. Meanwhile, india and bangladesh have been steadily increasing the number of jute spinning and weaving mills, and both countries are now processing much of their own fiber.

Jute producing area:

In bangladesh (dhaka, jessore, pabna, faridpur, rangpur, comilla, mymenshingh etc)

In india (assam, west bengal, bihar, uttar pradesh, orissa etc)

Other countries are:

       I.            Japan

    II.            China

 III.            Nepal

 IV.            Brazil

    V.            Thailand

 VI.            Burma etc

Chemical composition of jute:

Cellulose --- 65.2%

Hemicelluloses--- 22.2%

Lignin-------------- 10.8%

Water soluble------ 1.5%

Fat and wax--------0.3-1%

Properties of jute fiber:

Physical properties:

Ø  Length – 150-300cm

Ø  Diameter – usually 6-20 micron

Ø  Absorbency – good

Ø  Color – yellow to brown to dirty grey. Depending upon the comdition of growth retting etc.

Ø  Moisture regain – 13-13.755%

Ø  Strength – 5-8gm/den

Ø  Elasticity – low

Ø  Elongation to break – 1.7%

Ø  Specific gravity – 1.48-1.5

Mechanical properties:

Ø  Medium dimensional stability.

Ø  Moderate abrasion resistance.

Ø  Resiliency poor

Chemical properties:

Ø  Effect of acid: easily damaged by hot dilute or cold concentrated acids.

Ø  Effect of alkali:

Ø  Strong alkali degrades the strength.

Ø  Effect of bleaches: jute can be bleached but losses strength.

Ø  Dye affinity: easily dyed but wash fastness and light fastness are poor.

Environmental properties:

Ø  No affected by moth.

Ø  No affected by mildew.

Ø  Poor resistant to sunlight.

Thermal properties:

Ø  Effect of heat: it may not degraded by heat. But prolonged heating operation degrades the fibers.

Ø  Flammability: burns.

Features of jute fiber:

Ø  It has 100% bio-degradable and recyclable and thus environmentally friendly.

Ø  It is called Golden fiber because it is a natural fiber with golden and silky shine.

Ø  Jute is the cheapest vegetable fiber produce from the bast of plant.

Ø  Jute has higher tensile strength, low extensibility and better breathability of fabrics. So jute is very suitable in agriculture commodity bulk packaging.

Ø  It is the most versatile natural fibers that has been used in raw materials for textiles, agriculture sectors, construction, non-textile, packaging etc, due to reduced breaking tenacity and an increased breaking extensibility when blended as a ternary blend and jute has the ability to be blended with other fibers, both synthetic and natural, accepts cellulosic dye classes such as basic, reactive, natural, vat, sulfur and pigment.

Jute gradation:

There are two stages of grading, one for the home trade and another for the export trade. Grading factors for jute are color, length, firmness of fiber, luster, strength, clearness, freedom from defects and the amounts of root end which will have to be cut off. Jute gradation is done after the extraction process, usually done by Kutcha balers.

Basis of grading:

Some factors which are essential while selecting different grades of jute are:

Ø  Length, color, luster, weight and strength.

Ø  Qualities such as smoothness, distinctness, softness, uniformity.

Ø  Degree of fault like bark, roots, sticks, specks, knots, runners, watermarks.

Ø  Proportion of hard centered fiber, harsh crop ends and cutting.

Factors affecting gradation of jute:

Ø  Nature of soil, water, rainfall, humidity and topography.

Ø  Quality varies from season to season and place to place.

Ø  Different practices followed while growing of jute and methods used in retting extraction of fiber, washing, drying and storage.

Kutcha grading:

Grade	Characteristics
Tops	Very strong fiber, excellent color and luster free from all defects
Middles	Strong, sound fiber, average color for the district, free from specks, runners and harsh crop end
Bottoms	Sound fiber, medium strength, free from hard centered fiber
B-Bottoms	Sound fiber, medium strength, not suitable for higher grades
C-Bottoms	Medium strength fiber, any color, free from runners and croppiness
X-Bottoms(Cross Bottoms)	Weak harsh jute, free from tangle jute and stick jute of any sort.
Habijabi	Tangled, raveled jute of any sort free from dust and cuttings

Production and processing:

The jute plant, Corchorus, is a herbaceous annual. It may grow to 5m (15ft), with a stalk diameter of 20mm. In India and Bangladesh, the plants are commonly harvested with a hand sickle.

Retting is carried out in a manner similar to that used for flax, the stalks being steeped in a sluggish stream of water. They are examined daily until the stage is reached at which the fiber can be separated easily from the stem. The strands of fiber, often as much as 2m long, are washed and hung up in the sun to dry. They are compressed into bales and sent off to the mills for spinning.

It is necessary to incorporate small amounts of mineral spindle oils into the fiber during conversion into yarn. Normal jute goods may contain up to 5 percent oil, but so-called ‘stainless’ yarns containing 1 percent of oil or less are commonly available when the jute is to be used for special purposes, e.g. cables, fuses, carpet backings, wall-coverings etc.

Bleaching and Dyeing:

Jute is used very largely for cheap commodities such as sacks, bags and wrappings. Where necessary, and the extra cost is warranted, it is possible to bleach jute goods through various shades of pale cream up to pure white and also to incorporate ‘optical bleaching’ (i.e. colorless dyestuff which fluoresce a vivid white in daylight).

Dyestuff of various types, as used for cotton, may also be applied to jute. The fiber has a special affinity for basic dyes, which provide brilliant effects even on unbleached base. Unfortunately, these effects are not very fast either to light or to water. Acid, direct and sulphur dyes are increasingly fast in this order, but also give increasing dullness of shade- all at reasonable cost. This increased demand for rugs, mats and carpets has stimulated a corresponding demand for dyed jute yarns and fabric suitable for these applications. Very bright and fast result are obtained with azoic and vat dyes, but their high cost limits their use with jute. The tendency for jute to turn brown in sunlight is a permanent disadvantage in better quality applications.

End uses of jute goods:

Ø  Bags and sacks for packing almost all kinds of agricultural products, minerals, fertilizer, cement;

Ø  Wool packs and cotton bales;

Ø  Wrapping materials;

Ø  Carrier and backing fabric for carpet and linoleum;

Ø  Cordage and twines;

Ø  Webbing and fabric to cover inner springs in auto seats and upholster furniture;

Ø  Cargo separator in ship;

Ø  Brattice cloth for mine ventilation and partition;

Ø  Filling material in cable;

Ø  Roofing and floor covering apparel;

Ø  Footwear lining;

Ø  Wall covering and furnishing fabric;

Ø  Fashion accessories etc

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