The agricultural process

The Plant
The Abaca plant propagates itself through suckering, or the growing of shoots from the roots. When all the leaves have been formed from the stem, flower buds develop, at which time the plant has reached maturity and is then ready for harvest.
Harvesting
Under normal conditions, the first harvest is done from 18 to 24 months after planting. Stalks are considered mature and are harvested when the flagleaf appears. Subsequent harvest is done at 3 to 4 month intervals. The period of good fiber recovery extends for more than one month from flagleaf to early inflorescence.
In the harvesting process, which involves mainly the cutting down of the plant, there are 2 stages:

Topping
The leaves of the trees to be harvested are cut at the base of the petiole with the use of a knife or sickle fastened at the end of a bamboo or wooden pole.

Tumbling
The stalks that have just been topped are then tumbled down with the use of a bolo knife. The stalks are cut close to the ground. After tumbling, all cut stalks are piled in a convenient place where "tuxying" is to be done.

Tuxying
Tuxying is the method of extracting the fiber from the leafsheaths.
Entire leafsheaths are separated from the stalk and flattened.
A specially-made tuxying knife is used to make an incision through the inner and middle layer of each sheath, close to the base or butt end to facilitate the separation of these layers from the outer layer.

Stripping
Stripping is the method of cleaning abaca fibers through the use of stripping knives. In the Philippines there are currently 2 methods in use, namely:

Handstripping
This method is very simple, fully manual, but is very strenuous on the part of the stripper. The tuxy is inserted between a block and the serrated (or non-serrated) stripping knife. The tuxy is pulled with force from the tip end of the tuxy. It is here where the fiber separates from the wastes.

Spindle stripping
The fibers are wound around a tapered-shaped spindle which is kept in motion by an electric motor or an engine. The speed at which the spindle draws the fiber over the knife depends on its position along the cone. The larger end of the spindle draws the fiber faster than the small end. Fibers recovered vary from 1.5 per cent to 2 per cent by weight of the freshly cut stalks.

Drying
All stripped fibers undergo drying before being stored.
They may be sundried in the open or airdried in shaded structures.

Read on to learn how Sinamay is woven.