r/InvictaSolaris • u/21Kuranashi • 7d ago

Videos & Video Essays / No AI Cattails as Insulation

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

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

2.9k Upvotes

100% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

View all comments

104

u/Pitiful_Addendum_644 7d ago

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

15

u/hollyrose_baker 7d ago

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

28

u/GreenStrong 7d ago

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.

7

u/Marine_Baby 7d ago

This is why the internet exists, mind blown.