Coco coir, is a fiber-rich, renewable, and eco-friendly material found between the hard, inner shell and the external coat of a coconut. It is a rot-resistant, durable, and lightweight material - usually a byproduct of harvesting coconuts for food.
There are two varieties of coco coir:
1) White Coco Coir - harvested from coconuts that are not yet ripe, and usually comes in light brown or white. The white coco coir variety is smoother and finer than brown coco coir, but weaker. To strengthen it, these are spun to make yarn to be used in the creation of mats or ropes.
2) Brown Coco Coir - harvested from fully mature and ripened coconuts. They are thick, strong, abrasion-resistant fibers typically used in mats, sacking, and brushes.
How are they processed?
We use brown coco coir from mature coconuts that have ripened and fallen from the tree. To de-husk, the fibrous layer of the fruit is separated from the shell manually with the use of a sharp instrument. A skilled husker can manually split and peel about 2,000 coconuts per day. The shells are then soaked in nets in a slow-moving body of water to swell and soften. Long bristle fibers are separated from the shorter fibres underneath the skin of the nut, in a process known as “wet-milling.” To remove dirt, the fibers are sifted and then dried in the sun and packed into bales.
As soon as our artisans get their hands on these bales, they work their magic.
And Hector (and all his friends) are born, ready to find a warm, welcoming home - whichever part of the world it may be. :)