The jute manufacturing industry is one of Bangladesh’s oldest traditional manufacturing industries, having started in former East Pakistan in the early 1950s. This industry accounted for a significant portion of the national GDP and manufacturing jobs throughout the 1960s and 1970s. During the 1960s, jute exports and jute products were Pakistan’s two most significant sources of foreign cash. However, the proportion and significance of jute and jute commodities in the jute manufacturing process, export and total foreign currency earnings, and GDP have progressively dropped over time. The industry today contributes 3.9 percent of all exports in the nation, which is relatively little when compared to its contribution to total exports in the 1970s (89.9 percent in 1973). One key cause was the rise of export-oriented readymade garments (RMG) by jute fabric manufacturers.
Nevertheless, this was also the effect of Bangladesh’s various policies, as well as a reduction in demand for jute items in both internal and foreign markets throughout time.
The Government of Bangladesh (GoB) made a series of actions in July 2007 in response to the poor functioning of government sector jute mills. The key decisions involve the closure of four jute mills – Peoples, Karnaphuli, Forat-Karnaphuli, and Kaomi – and the downsizing of 14,000 employees from 22 state-owned jute mills, of which 6,000 workforce were from the four shut down jute mills and another 8,000 workers were from the remaining 18 jute mills, resulting in a 50% reduction in the total work force of Bangladesh Jute The government committed to give Tk. 200 crore to fund the acquisition of raw jute, with Tk. 138 crore coming from financial institutions through the issuance of government bonds. The procurement goal for the 18 jute mills was set at 55 lakh tonnes of unprocessed jute from 58 procuring centers.
The authorities also took the steps to sell 120 acres of property (out of the 1,200 acres owned by BJMC) in order to raise funding for the sector.
What Exactly Is Jute Fabric?
Jute fabric is a textile material derived from the jute plant. While there are other botanical variants of jute, Corchorus olitorius is one of the most common species used to create jute cloth (white jute). However, although being more difficult to produce, another variety of jute known as Corchorus capsularis (tossa jute) is regarded as preferable.
Cotton is the most abundant plant-based fiber, while jute is a close contender. While jute is not widely used in the developed countries, it is an important textile fiber in India and adjacent nations. Jute plants may expand over 10 feet tall, and their fibers are collected in one long string. As a result, jute fibers are one of the world ‘s biggest organic textile fibers.
Jute thrives in similar circumstances to rice and is particularly fit to warm climates with the yearly monsoon period. This crop cannot survive in harsh water, and an atmospheric humidity rate of around 80% is required for jute growth.
Jute Characteristics
Jute is a rough fabric, thus it isn’t suitable for garment uses unless it passes through a lengthy manufacturing process. Jute, on the other hand, is perfect for industrial applications because of its roughness and resilience. The majority of jute fabrics are loosely woven with thick yarn strands.
Jute collects water rapidly, dries quickly, and is very immune to corrosion and stains. However, since it is plant-based, jute biodegrades quite fast, and it is not noted for its long-term resilience in outdoor applications.
The majority of jute fiber is light brown, although there are some off-white variants as well. White jute is often regarded inferior to brown jute, however white jute might be more beneficial for garment uses.
Jute fiber is typically easy to deal with since it is dense and malleable, and because it is long and glossy in its untreated condition, making jute yarn is quite simple. Jute is very permeable, yet it does not naturally absorb much heat, making it an excellent choice for clothing in warm and humid weather.
Jute Products Manufacturing Process from Fiber to Product
Jute fiber is a naturally occurring bast fiber. It is one of the cheapest natural fibers, second only to cotton in terms of quantity produced and range of applications. It is more difficult to work with than other textile fibers. It is good for the environment. Jute is often utilized as a supporting material for floor coverings in the form of sacking, burlap, and string.
Jute items are manufactured in several countries due to their global demand. A column of sequence produces jute items. Its production technique is entirely different from that of cotton. Jute items are made in the following ways:
Jute selection for a batch
During the selection phase, professional employees open raw jute bales to discover any defects and remove the faulty area from the mora. Raw jute bales are available in two sizes: 150 kg and 180 kg, with or without the top section chopped.
The bales are classified according to their intended purpose, such as Hessiean weft, Sacking wrap, Sacking weft, and so on. Jute bales are selected and transported to the softening area by personnel known as Gariwala and Bajawala.
Batches and batching
A batch is a collection of jute bales chosen for the sake of producing a certain kind of yarn.
Batching encompasses the whole procedure before carding. The basic goal of batches is to mix oil and water to the jute fiber to make it flexible, soft, and stiff-free.
Softening
Jute morahs are softened and flexible during the softening process. For softening, two ways are used: a softening machine and a jute good spreader. To moisten and soak up the bark and sticky raw jute, an aqueous plant with a jute softening machine is typically utilized. The emulsion plant is made up of a gear pump, a motor, a vat, a jet sprayer, nozzles, an emulsion tank, and a jacket. Jute becomes soft and malleable throughout this softening technique, making it suited for carding.
Conditioning, also known as piling, and piling breakage
Conditioning, sometimes known as piling, refers to the rest period when the water and oil have been poured. It lasts longer when low grade batching is used to soften the thick barky root material before putting on the cards.
The pile breaker’s primary job is to separate the pile and send it to the carding devices. The softener machine produced material that pilemen moved via bile to the pile location for pilling. During piling, surface moisture enters the fiber and a “thermo fillic” process occurs, softening the hard section of the base. After roughly 24 hours of stacking, pile breakers transport the debris to the carding facility.
Jute carding
Jute carding is the technique by which long reeds of jute are subdivided into an intertwined mass and given in the shape of ribbon equal weight per unit length while moving through a super-fast pinned roller.
How Is Jute Fabric Produced?
Jute fabric manufacture has mostly stayed unchanged for generations. The majority of sophisticated jute stalks are picked by hand and defoliated. Jute fibers may be extracted from both the stalk’s inner root and its outer skin.
The non-fibrous substance from the stem and covering of the jute stalk is removed by a process known as retting. Retting weakens the stalks, allowing the fibrous component to be separated from the useless portion by hand.
Once the jute stalk has successfully retted, the long, silky fibers may be separated and combed into long threads. After that, the combed fibers may be twisted into yarn. While automated machinery can produce jute yarn, most jute-producing villages still use manual spinning machines for this procedure.
After jute fiber is turned into yarn, it can go through a number of chemical treatments to color it, make it water resistant, or make it fireproof. The completed jute fiber reels are then delivered to textile manufacturing plants to be stitched into garments or industrial fabrics.
A range of softening processes are employed in the instance of jute garments to make the end apparel goods more cozy. Some producers may stir the jute yarn to minimize its roughness, while others may utilize chemical procedures to accomplish the same result. Jute fiber utilized for industrial applications may usually be left in its natural state without being softened.
Jute Fiber’s Benefits
- Because jute fiber has excellent antistatic qualities, no static charges are generated during the manufacturing or use of jute products.
- Jute is an absorbing fabric, which is why it may be used to manufacture cloth for electrical operations.
- Because of its poor thermal conductivity, temperature moves slowly through this fiber.
- Moisture regain characteristics are sufficient (about 13.75 percent ).
- There is no skin irritation.
- Because it is 100 percent biodegradable, it is an environmentally beneficial material similar to cotton.
- Market price is low.
- Jute Fiber is widely available in the market, and its total productivity is high.
- The tensile strength is quite strong.
- Jute fabric is incredibly breathable and quite pleasant to wear.
- Can be extensively employed in the agriculture, textile, weaving, and nonwoven industries.
- Jute fiber is compatible with both pure and synthetic fibers.
- Basic, Vat, Sulphur, and Reactive Dyes may all be used to kill it.
Jute Fiber’s Drawbacks
- Jute has a very poor crease tolerance.
- Drape property is insufficient.
- When exposed to sunlight, the shade effect turns yellowish.
- When jute gets wet, it gives up strength.
Jute Uses/Applications in Textiles and Daily Life:
- Jute is a fabric with about 1000 diverse applications. Jute, like cotton, has been chosen as the most significant fiber since it can be utilized for a variety of applications and is also simple to farm.
- Jute bags are extensively utilized in everyday life, and coarse Jute cloth has no equivalent. Jute is also used to make wrapping bales and raw cotton.
- Because jute is a totally biodegradable fiber, it is appropriate for a wide range of applications when used in lieu of so-called synthetic fiber. Synthetic fiber is highly unstable and may have a negative influence on the natural environment, while Jute is a viable alternative.
- Jute fiber may be combined with other organic and cellulosic fibers such as cotton to create a very stable and unique blended yarn that is powerful and shiner.
- Jute is used not just to manufacture yarn or textiles, but also to make Jute pulp and paper. As people throughout the globe become more environmentally concerned and attempt to avoid chopping down trees or plants in order to conserve the environment, jute is increasingly being utilized as an alternative to wood in the paper making industry.
- Jute has a long history of usage in sackings, carpets for houses, and so on, as well as cotton bale and wrapping textiles for that and many fabric manufacturing industries to manufacture mats, curtains, brushes, and so on.
- Jute is now employed not just in the textile business, but also in the automobile sector, the furniture and bedding industry, and the paper making industry.
- Jute is frequently combined with other fibers to produce non-woven, composites, and technical textiles. Jute is known as “Wood Fiber,” and it is solely employed in the main industrial sectors due to its promising properties.
- Jute may be used to make a variety of fabrics such as Hosiery Cloth, Hessian Cloth, Sacking, Scrim, Carpet Backing Cloth, Canvas, and so on.
- Hessian is a lighter fabric than sacking and is used to make bags, wrappers, wall coverings, geo textiles, upholstery, and other home furnishings. The sacking is to be manufactured using heavy jute fibers.
- Nowadays, jute has a wide range of applications. Jute is used in a variety of special and contemporary applications, including Espadrilles, Floor coverings, Home textiles, high performance technical textiles, geo textiles, composites, and more.
- Jute is commonly used in house decorating because of its rich color and light fastness characteristics. Because of its anti-static qualities and low heat conduction, jute is more resilient than any other material.
- Above all, jute is a biodegradable material that originates from nature and decomposes in nature. As a result, it is an environmentally beneficial fiber that allows green people to enter the green world.
