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Milkweed floss was collected from across the country during WWII as a stuffing material for life vests. ... It turns out that milkweed floss is a hollow, wax-coated, flexible fiber six times lighter than wool and ideally suited as a substitute for kapok. The sailors called these life vests "Mae Wests." a reference to the...
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Asclepias - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
|name = Milkweeds |image = Asclepiascommon.JPG |image_caption = Asclepias syriaca showing flowers and latex like sap. |regnum = Plantae |unranked_divisio = Angiosperms |unranked_classis = Eudicots |...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asclepias |
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Milkweed floss is usable as a hollow, cellulose, insulative, batting fiber and competes readily with the more traditionally used white goose down, which costs $66.00/kg. Fifteen lines of these two species yielded a 4-year annual average of 212 kg floss/ha from dried pods that averaged 21.8% floss.
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Milkweed floss showed properties similar to goose down. The United States waterfowl down market has an annual volume of less than 5 million annual kilograms at a price in the range of $20 to $70 per kilogram.
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The purpose of this research was to evaluate milkweed floss as an insulative fill material and to compare its per formance to other insulators. Seven identical jackets were constructed using different fill materials matched on a per unit weight basis.
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Woeppel, L.T. , Crews, P.C., and Sievert, S.A., Determining Moisture Characteristics of Milkweed Floss, in " Book of Papers, AATCC International Conference ...
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Evaluation of Milkweed Floss as an; Insulative Fill Material ; Patricia Cox Crews, Shiela A. Sievert, and Lisa T. Woeppel; Department of Textiles, Clothing and Design, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska 68583;
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Milkweed, a perennial plant that can adapt to adverse soil conditions, is being developed as an alternative crop. Fiber characterization and potential market identification are critical to its development. The most promising commercial use for milkweed floss is as a loose fill for jackets and comforters.
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American Indian tribes used milkweed floss to line the beds of their infants, as well as blankets and clothing for adults. ... Following the end of the war, interest in milkweed floss died off, but in recent years there has been a revival thanks to the discovery that milkweed floss, when mixed with goose down,
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Today, some farmers actually cultivate milkweed for its soft, silky floss, which is used commercially as a hypoallergenic filler in high-end pillows, comforters, and jacket linings. ... "Milkweed: From Floss to Fun in the Sun" was published in the February 2009 issue of Agricultural Research magazine.
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