Utilisation of Himalayan Nettle Plant Waste for Development of Innovative Union Fabrics

Nettle or Bicchu buti grows abundantly as wild plant in Chamoli and Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand. Very soft and warm nettle fibres are obtained from its bark. Only limited product line of pure nettle fabric was available in the market at a high cost. Thus, the need was felt to diversify the nettle usage and develop innovative textile textures. Thus, present study was conducted to develop eighteen nettle union fabric textures using three selected yarns viz., cotton (2/20, 2/24), acrylic (2/24, 2/32) and polypropylene (2/120, single ply) as warp along with nettle (6 Nm) yarn in weft direction in plain, basket, and twill weaves. Developed union fabrics were shown to a sample of 180 women in the age group of 25-35 years to assess their preferences for product development from union fabrics. Developed union fabrics were most preferred for jackets, stoles and various home textile products. Cotton (2/20)/nettle (6 Nm) with EPI=48, PPI=26 was preferred 41.67 per cent respondents for jacket, while 51.67 per cent respondents preferred acrylic (2/32)/nettle (6 Nm) with EPI=65, PPI=34 for stole. Developed union fabrics were comparatively cheaper as cost of cotton, acrylic and polypropylene was nearly 20 per cent of the nettle cost.