COIR

PRODUCTS

INTRODUCTION
Coiris anatural fibre extracted from thehusk
ofcoconut and used in products such as floor mats,
doormats, brushes, mattresses, etc. Coir is the
fibrous material found between the hard, internal
shell and the outer coat of a coconut. Other uses of
brown coir (made from ripe coconut) are in
upholstery padding, sacking and horticulture. White
coir, harvested from unripe coconuts, is used for
making finer brushes, string, rope and fishing nets
The English word "coir" comes from theMalayalam
word 'kayar.

HISTORY
Ropes andcordage made from coconut fibre have
been in use from ancient times. Indian navigators who
sailed the seas to Malaya, Java, China, and the Gulf of
Arabia centuries ago used coir for their ship ropes.
Arab writers of the 11th century AD referred to the
extensive use of coir for ship ropes andrigging.

Coir processing is an important economic activity in

India, where it provides jobs for more than 500,000
people.
In 1980, the primary producing countries of India and
Sri Lanka began an on going effort to identify and
correct technological limitations on coir production.

LOCATION AND
PRODUCTION
Total world coir fibre production is 250,000 tonnes .
This industry is particularly important in some
areas of the developing world.
India, mainly inPollachiand the coastal region
ofKeralaState, produces 60% of the total world
supply of white coir fibre.
Sri Lankaproduces 36% of the total brown fibre
output.
Over 50% of the coir fibre produced annually
throughout the world is consumed in the countries
of origin, mainly India.
Together, India and Sri Lanka produce 90% of the
coir produced every year.

RAW MATERIALS
Fresh water is used to process brown coir,
while sea water and fresh water are both used in
the production of white coir.
In 2000, researchers announced that adding a
both containing a certain combination of 10
anaerobic (living without oxygen) bacteria to salt
water can dramatically hasten the fiber extraction
process without seriously degrading product
quality.
In Europe and Asia, brown coir mats may be
sprayed with latex rubber for use as padding in
mattresses or automobile upholstery.

THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS

HARVESTING AND
HUSKING
HARVESTING Mainly done in 3 ways
Coconuts that have ripened and fallen from
the tree
Harvested by human climbers- So many
technological advancements have came in
this area.
third harvesting technique ,in which trained
monkeys climb trees to pick ripe coconuts, is
used only in countries that produce little
commercial
coir(Sri immediately,
Lanka).
Ripe coconuts
are husked
but unripe
coconuts may be seasoned for a month by
spreading them in a single layer on the ground and
keeping them dry. To remove the fruit from the
seed, the coconut is impaled on a steel-tipped
spike to split the husk. The pulp layer is easily
peeled off. A skilled husker can manually split and
peel about 2,000 coconuts per day. Modern
husking machines can process 2,000 coconuts per

RETTING
Retting is a curing process during which the
husks are kept in an environment that
encourages the action of naturally occurring
microbes.
This action partially decomposes the husk's
pulp, allowing it to be separated into coir fibers
and a residue called coir pith.
Freshwater retting is used for fully ripe
Types
of Retting
coconut
husks, :and saltwater retting is used
for
For
freshwater
green
husks. retting, ripe husks are buried in
pits dug along riverbanks, immersed in waterfilled concrete tanks, or suspended by nets in a
river and weighted to keep them submerged. The
husks typically soak at least six months.

For saltwater retting, green husks are soaked in

seawater or artificially salinated fresh water.
Often this is accomplished by placing them in pits
along riverbanks near the ocean, where tidal
action alternately covers them with sea water and
rinses them with river water. Saltwater retting
usually takes eight to 10 months, although adding

 Mechanical techniques have recently been

developed to simplify retting. Ripe husks can be
processed in crushing machines after being
retted for only seven to 10 days. Immature husks
can be dry milled without any retting. After
passing through the crushing machine, these
green husks need only be dampened with water
or soaked one to two days before proceeding to
the defibering step.

DEFIBERING
Traditionally, workers beat the retted pulp with
wooden mallets to separate the fibers from the pith
and the outer skin.

In recent years, motorized machines have been

developed with flat beater arms operating inside
steel drums.

Separation of the bristle fibers is accomplished by

hand or in a machine consisting of a rotating drum
fitted with steel spikes.

Separation of the mattress fibers from the pith is

completed by washing the residue from the
defibering process and combing through it by hand
or tumbling it in a perforated drum or sieve.

The clean fibers are spread loosely on the ground to

dry in the sun.

FINISHING
Bristle fibers that will not immediately be further processed
are rolled and tied into loose bundles for storage or
shipment.
Similarly, mattress fibers may simply be baled with a
hydraulic press. However, if more processing is desired, the
fibers are combed with mechanical or manual carding tools,
then loosely twisted into a thick yarn (wick), and wound into
bundles.
Later, the wick can be re-spun into a finer yarn. Techniques
vary from simple hand spinning to use of a hand-operated
spinning wheel or a fully automated spinning machine.
Depending on its intended final use, the yarn may be shipped
to customers, or multiple strands may be twisted into twine
and bundled for shipment. Both traditional manual
techniques and newer mechanical methods are used to braid
twine into rope and to weave yarn into mats or nets.
For some uses, such as upholstery padding, bristle fiber is
loosely spun into yarn and allowed to rest. Then the fibers,
which have become curly, are separated. These fibers are
lightly felted into mats that are sprayed with latex rubber,
dried, andvulcanized(heat treated withsulphur).

BY PRODUCTS/WASTE
By weight, coir fibers account for about one-third of the
coconut pulp. The other two-thirds, the coir pith (also
known as coir dust), has generally been considered a
useless waste material. Although it is biodegradable, it
takes 20 years to decompose. Millions of tons sit in
huge piles in India and Sri Lanka. During the last half of
the 1980s, researchers successfully developed
processes to transform coir pith into a mulching, soil
treatment, andhydroponic(without soil) growth
medium that is used as an alternative to such materials
as peat moss andvermiculite.Before being compressed
into briquettes for sale, the coir pith is partially
decomposed through the action of certain microbes
and fungi.
An Australian company has also recently begun turning
coir pith into an absorbent product used to remediate
oil spills.

THE FUTURE
As improved technology increases production, industry
groups and governmental agencies are actively
promoting new uses for coir fiber. Geotextiles is one
promising area.
The Indian state of Kerala designated 2000 as Coir
Geotextiles Year, which it observed by increasing
marketing efforts and supporting research to improve
production.
The annual world demand for geotextiles is 1.2 billion
square yards (1 billion square meters) and growing.
Although natural fibers account for only 5% of that,
the proportion is expected to increase as more users
turn away from non biodegradable synthetics.
Another new product under development is an
alternative to plywood that is made by impregnating a

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