Nettle Fibres

[Emdiesse]

I am assuming that the fibres in the roots of nettles are useful for making cords?

If my assumption is right. How do i go about making cord out of nettle fibres?

 

[tomtom]

i have never used nettle roots for cordage, i dont know what they are like, i have never pulled up a nettle and found it to have very long roots!? it is normaly the out layers of the stalk which is used for cordage, i intend to do a nettle 'howto' but havent gotten around to it yet.. its a very enjoyable thing to do i find!

 

[hootchi]

This is how I do it (and I don't use the roots):

Cut the tall old nettles off as low down as possible

Strip of the leaves

The nettles consist of a kinda hard woody hollow stem and the fibres you want are on the outside of this so lay the nettles on a log and squash the nettles with a stick to 'pop' the stem. You don't want to damage the fibres.

Open the stem out, like you have just cut a slit up the side of a toilet roll opened it out. (got me?)

Now you have a strip of nettle with the fibres on one side and the hard pith on the other.

Snap the pith but not the nettle fibres and pull the pith from the fibres. You want to try to get the fibres as long as possible and clean of the woody stuff inside and old stuff on the outside. Sorry I'm not deliberatly trying to bore you!

Dry the fibres in the sun or radiator. These are the raw fibres and are ready to be rolled into string.

Its quite hard to explain the rolling so you could try plaiting the fibres or roll them. Take a few fibres and fold it not halfway, otherwise the joins will be together later. The couples of fibres you choose will be half the string thickness.

grip the two halfs of the fibres near the fold between thumb and index finger, hold the fold and twist each half together but indivually. Let go of the fold and let the two strands twist together like string- magic!

Grip the new string and trist the fibres again. The fibres need to be twisted the same way and the string twists in the other. Try to keep the fibres equal thickness and when the fibres need lengthening add in some more nettle.

I think ray roll the fibres on his thigh and that is possible if the fibres are quite thick. This roll is how I make cordage from other sources aswell, such as clematis bark.

It really is easier than it sounds when you get started and you develop your own techniques after a bit.

Any bits you don't understand let me know

cheers

 

[Fallow Way]

I have used both the nettle itself and the roots to make fibres.

Exaclty the same process as with any other sort of root,. the right sort gathered at the right time makes exceptionally strong cord, a single root layed into cord has held my weight before now.

 

[Toddy]

I make and spin nettle fibre, soft fine white, better than linen. I'd never heard of using the roots before though...I've just pulled some up by accident this afternoon while gathering tops for soup....when do the roots become solid enough to be used and are they stronger than the stem fibres?
Cheers,
Toddy

 

[Fallow Way]

the roots are a lot stronger i`ve found (unless there is a mutant version in the midlands ) i dig them up when the nettles are over hip hight by and large, thats when i`ve found them to be at their strongest

 

[Emdiesse]

Any bits you don't understand let me know

The sting.

What do you do about the sting the nettles have?

 

[Toddy]

How long a fibre do you get from the root? I get about a metre of useable lengths from the stems.

Stings? crush them, boil them or wilt them first.
Supposedly if you grab the stem and *only* move your hand upwards you will crush the stinging hairs and avoid the pain. Me, I use gloves and I run my gloved hand up the stem removing the leaves and short stems for dye. This crushes most of the stinging hairs. If I've got lots to do, I lay them out in bundles and walk up and down their length treading very firmly. If you pour boiling water over them that works too. It also helps the retting process for removing the finer fibres minus the green skin.

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[Fallow Way]

Stings are fairly easy to avoid, you can use gloves, but for a stubborn (ie me) ytou can run your hand up from the base, tighly and with confidence, or start from the bottom and pick the leaves off, then run your hand over the stem.

with nettle roots your looking at half a metre if your very lucky, so i tend to obviously just use them for small jobs but where i want very stong bindings eg tools

 

[Toddy]

...with nettle roots your looking at half a metre if your very lucky, so i tend to obviously just use them for small jobs but where i want very stong bindings eg tools

Thanks for the information; do you use the root like birch or spruce? Not spinning and plying but splitting along the length? Sorry to be such a pest, but I'm genuinely curious, nettles are good stuff
Cheers,
Toddy

 

[Fallow Way]

lol, if i thought someone asking questions was a pest, why would i be part of this forum? lol

I use them exactly as with birch/pine roots, except i do not tend to split them that often as they seem to loose a lot of their strength and also are not as flexible as other roots. I`m quite selective about the jobs i put them to, but they are very strong.

 

[Ed]

I make and spin nettle fibre, soft fine white, better than linen.

Any chance of you giving us a run-down on how you do this. I'm quite a good spinner of wool, and I just had a go at spinning nettle fibre with a hand/drop spinner.... but not much luck. Do you use the fibres wet or dry? do you card it first like lambs wool?

Please help
Ed

 

[Toddy]

Any chance of you giving us a run-down on how you do this. I'm quite a good spinner of wool, and I just had a go at spinning nettle fibre with a hand/drop spinner.... but not much luck. Do you use the fibres wet or dry? do you card it first like lambs wool?

Please help
Ed

Spin it damp like flax but don't leave it damp, it grows foosty very quickly. If you've kept the fibres in bundles or broken it out like flax it ought to be already lined up for spinning. If not, you can draw out lengths from the smashed stems to make a strick. Short lengths card well.

The thing is that flax will give you about 12% fibre from dry weight of material but nettle will only give 1 or 2%. So you need a *lot*. Thereafter it's much the same. Cut, stack, dry out a bit, bundle and soak until it starts to decay then dry and beat or break out the fibres. (easier if you wrap them in a clean cloth)

If you're in a hurry, cut the stems, strip the leaves and then pour boiling water over the stems. Walk up and down over them or beat them with rounded stick to seperate the skins from the woody core. Peel off the lengths and again soak to encourage retting, sometimes even a day can be enough....be careful watch out for a powdery mildew forming on the damp stems.

At this point it gets fiddly because you have no core to act as a stiffened length to break out the fibres. However, if you keep the lengths in bundles you can twist them in water until the detritus comes away and the fibres come out clean. Nettle fibres may break at the leaf nodes, unlike flax which carries it's leaves v.high and on unbranched stems, it's a knack to remove the leaves without compromising the 'skin' of the nettle. However even short fibre is still good stuff.
The pulp of crushed stems and leaves with little broken bits of fibre make excellent papier mache, just mould it around a bowl or a ball and let it dry.

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[Stew]

Toddy, you seem to be experienced with making various types of cordage. What are you using it all for or is it just for fun?

 

[Toddy]

Hmm, what day of the week is it, what century am I working in?

I'm the spinning, weaving, natural dyeing tutor for the Galgael Trust & through them I'm working on a project for Scottish Natural Heritage/Crown Estates/Clyde Estuary Forum just now. I've to weave a warp-weighted loom 'tapestry' map of the Clyde only using colours I've obtained from plants & materials I've sourced from the areas of the Clyde riversides and estuary.
I work for Historic Scotland's education service demonstrating & teaching traditional handcrafts, spinning, cordage, dyes, weaving, and 'lotions & potions'.
I make authentic period costumes for Heritage Centres, Museums (twice for film) and a chosen few re-enactors.
Today I was demonstrating traditional plant uses, natural dyes and weaving technology for a Country comes to the City day for Glasgow Land services.
I work with Countryside Rangers on special site events and occasionally in-service training days.
I'm an archaeologist whose focus is fibres, cordage and textiles and I also provide samples of the working debris for an archaeo-botanist who's building up an excellent database.

In some form or other, indigenous natural fibres play a role in most of my work. Okay, I confess, I'm having fun! (You should see the piles of stuff around the garden though).

All this sounds too *good*
I'm just me, and I'm fascinated by making things and watching and learning from others who make/ know things too....like the folks on this list


Cheers,
Toddy

 

[jojosan]

Hey All,
New here, love nettles. Well interested in learning how to make nettle cloth and fiber, anyone offering this lore in course form!!
Good nettle use=juice. Current favourite is:
Apple, ginger, nettle hemp milk - divine medicine. Collect loads of apples and fresh nettle tops (and hemp seed if you are lucky like that), put through juicer with chunk of root ginger and soaked hemp seeds, and sip down this creamy nectar.
Enjoy
Joseph

 

[Diligence]

Toddy (nettle goddess?), please enlighten me... grin.

I'm very curious about this part of your explanation, "...this point it gets fiddly because you have no core to act as a stiffened length to break out the fibres. However, if you keep the lengths in bundles you can twist them in water until the detritus comes away and the fibres come out clean...."

In the past, I've removed the pith, split the skins into 4, let it dry, then made cordage. Originally, I did not realize that there was an outer layer to remove. Then, once eductate about that outer bit, I rubbed the skins between my palms (think hand drill) to remove the outer layer. This was very tedious. Can you expand a bit on your , 'bundle and twist in water" method? Do you ret the stalks before this stage? How big of a bundle of skin are you talking about? My last nettle cordage adventure resulted in 45 feet of 2-3mm cord. Would your method work well with smaller bunches?

With respect to working around the leaf nodes, I just crushed the node by pounding with a stick when the skins were dry....this had mixed results, but the best result was when the skins were moist for rolling, I chewed the nodes with my front teeth....this worked wonders for preventing the breaks.

Cheers,
D
PS...I'm going to have to wait until next year for any more nettles...they've all died by now and I think it's not the right time to harvest. My other nettles have all be taken in late July when still green.

 

[spiritofold]

My life this past summer has been taken up with processing nettle fibres. When we went on holiday i was sat at lands end making nettle cordage In fact, the kids starting joking that it was strange to see me without any nettles on my person. I've made 70 feet of 8 ply cord for a fishing line. Not many hairs left on me thighs now!

Andy >>>>>-------------------------------<>

 

[Joonsy]

Dry the fibres in the sun or radiator. These are the raw fibres and are ready to be rolled into string.

after drying do you resoak and roll fibres wet or roll fibres dry immediatlely after drying, i have made nettle-fibre cord but without drying it and it goes a bit loose after it has dried, i wondered if rolling dried fibre would be brittle to work with without resoaking and rolling wet. Thanks.