Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/06/07/these-shoes-are-made-of-pineap.html
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I’ve just spent the last half hour on youtube not only discovering this was a thing, but that other people are trying to do the same thing with mushrooms as well as kombucha tea scoby. What a time to be alive!
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If it smells like pineapple, what a bonus!
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Is there more actual info somewhere? All the hits are basically the same no details press release. I find it hard to believe there’s no polymers involved. Are they renewable or petro based?
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pinapple (or piña) fibres have been used to make cloth for the traditional Barong Tagalog since Philippine Spanish Colonial times.
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Being able to form ‘non-woven textile’ without serious binders basically just means being able to be felted(or made into thick paper); which isn’t something you can say of every fiber source but isn’t hugely exotic(hopefully the old trick of using mercury compounds to coax the less cooperative fibers into better felting won’t be repeated here).
That deeply unsubtle gold color, though, makes me suspect that the little flowchart-factory labelled “Finishing” might not be 100% all natural and whatnot; though presumably the more unfriendly surface finishes are optional.
bingo. most vegan “leathers” are polyurethane over fibers of various kinds, and are way worse for the environment then actual leather. i was hoping these weren’t that and natural, but the lack of info and the photos and videos seem to indicate that most likely it a polyurethane/pineapple fiber pleather.
pinapple fiber cloth is traditional and natural, that would be a much better use. do you happen to know how durable or soft it is?
Too expensive for me to own one myself, but I’m under the impression that pure piña shirts are very soft and delicate; a mix of piña and jusi is often used for a less delicate cloth.
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