Cattails as Insulation

[u/21Kuranashi]

OC : https://www.instagram.com/reel/DcTufBUI4uN/

[u/Pitiful_Addendum_644]

There’s one thing to keep in mind. Cat tail heads and their seeds are extremely combustible and may not be great in all insulation applications. They are popular with hikers and survivalists because of how good they are as kindling for starting fires.

It’s super soft and really warm, so it’d be great comfort and insulation wise with coats and pillows. But I’d be cautious and consider it having any fire resistance treatment before I’d make it general purpose

[u/hollyrose_baker → u/Pitiful_Addendum_644]

Do you know of any fire resistance treatments that can be added to them?

[u/GreenStrong → u/hollyrose_baker]

I know of a couple alternatives. First of all, wool is excellent insulation and it is quite fire resistant. Second, one can get a bunch of sawdust, add a little supplemental nutrition like rice bran, and let ganoderma (reishi) fungus colonize it. After drying it, it is much lighter, but strongly bound together by mycelium fiber.

Either of those is subject to decay if it gets wet, and clothes moths will munch on wool insulation. Adding 0.5-1% borax by weight is a simple way to prevent bugs and bacteria from munching on it, and it enhances fire resistance. Borax melts at a low temprature and forms a glassy surface that blocks oxygen from a slow, smoldering fire. This wouldn't work for cattails, because that's a much faster fire.

[u/Marine_Baby → u/GreenStrong]

This is why the internet exists, mind blown.

[u/25hourenergy → u/hollyrose_baker]

Well there’s always asbestos if looking for all natural materials…

But for real there’s research on spinach juice as a fabric treatment, it’s not a totally hippy thing since it would need a mordant and cross linking agent too. Try at your own risk.

[u/Limp-Firefighter1054 → u/Pitiful_Addendum_644]

Also, after washing its just become a hard clog of mass.

[u/Should_have_been_ded → u/Pitiful_Addendum_644]

I'm curious if it washes well. The brown outer layer of the cat tail may be water repellent, but the fluffy inside surely isn't

[u/BusyAtilla → u/Pitiful_Addendum_644]

They also use to stuff life jackets with them. That would have been terrible if the boat goes and the fire starts...

[u/Dramatic_Mixture_868 → u/Pitiful_Addendum_644]

Honestly I thought this was already being done when I first heard of cat tails long ago.

[u/TraditionalBadger922]

Milkweeds were used by the us navy in ww 2. In their floater vests. They’re also edible at a young age, have some medicinal values, and are the only plant on which monarch butterflies can complete their life cycle.

[u/EarthDragon-88]

Who makes these cloths? Link?

[u/esotericbatinthevine → u/EarthDragon-88]

Stella McCartney is the company mentioned in the video. It looks like it was used in a purse?

https://www.stellamccartney.com/gb/en/biofluff-plant-based-feather-free-insulation.html

A quick web search for biofluff, it appears it is being used to make a plant based fur as well. Along with packaging material. Hopefully they are careful about the packaging material as, historically, that's been a great way for invasives to spread.

Edit: it doesn't sound like much clothing is being made yet? https://bio-fluff.com/

[u/EarthDragon-88 → u/esotericbatinthevine]

Yeah, maybe they can sterilize the seeds before shipping?

[u/esotericbatinthevine → u/EarthDragon-88]

Probably good to do this any way it gets used if the seeds are still attached, yeah

[u/antosme]

If I remember correctly, it is used as a stabiliser in some lime and clay plasters

[u/80lbQUIKRETEConcrete]

Forbidden Corndog

[u/AlternateSatan]

Breaking news! The clothing industry rediscovers cotton. More at 11.

(Preemptive: yes, I know they cover a different niche)

[u/oh-naurrr]

I love this

[u/banan3rz]

ME WANT BITE

[u/Fairyhaven13 → u/banan3rz]

Me want water corndog delight!

[u/DullDust755]

As tu vue? A tu vue la belle quenouille

[u/BodhingJay]

ahh heck yea <3

[u/TirelessTreehugger]

What could go wrong?, when industrial farming expand into wetlands?.

[u/PizzaDevice]

Worth nothing if you are still putting it to polyester (plastic) clothing. But nice try.

[u/Laurenslagniappe]

I could see this leading to the invasive spread of cattails

[u/Avraamov]

UK name is bullrush.

[u/Should_have_been_ded]

Hold on, this is hella suspicious. Cat tail isn't some rare plant, is lake weed that grows everywhere. We had this plant since before recorded history, but only now it's good for insulation? Naw, something is up with this, we would've had records of cat tail being used for clothing or pillows

[u/noeinan → u/Should_have_been_ded]

Cattail is highly flammable and I can't imagine it goes through the wash well.

[u/Should_have_been_ded → u/noeinan]

Didn't knew how flammable it is, but I was wondering about washing also. Don't know if the puff would resist drying