Ramie

Anti-FungalAnti-MicrobialAsiaBeautyBreathableCompostableFood & BeverageHeat ResistantHypoallergenicLightweightMould-ResistantPackagingRamieRecyclableRegenerativeStrongTextiles

WHAT WE SAY:

Ramie has been mentioned in ancient Chinese texts and found in ancient Egypt. Now we're relearning about this plant with the potential to make a dent in the plastic industry.

Ramie is a tough-to-harvest fibre, and not well known outside of China, but its strength and silky feel means it has a place at the table in replacing fossil fuel fibres. Fashion, beauty, home furnishings, and fishing equipment – that last one especially – are some places where ramie could have its greatest impact.

Close-up of ramie textile / Source: Panaprium

WHAT IS RAMIE?

Ramie is a perennial, fibre producing plant from the Nettle family. It’s the thinnest of the bast fibres, which also include Hemp, flax, and jute.
Ramie fibre is one of the strongest natural fibres in the world – it is eight times stronger than Cotton – and it gets stronger when wet. It doesn’t shrink or lose shape. It dries quickly, becomes more lustrous with repeated washings – it's often said to have a silky feel – and is mould, mildew, and bacteria resistant. It is easy to dye and can be spun into 100% ramie or blended with other fibres. However, ramie has very little elasticity and weaving can be difficult due to the hairiness of the yarn.
The fibre is used mainly for textiles. This includes fashion – where it’s said that ramie can be mistaken for Linen – household furnishings such as curtains and upholstery, beauty products such as washcloths, bath poufs or loofahs, parachutes, fishing nets, packing materials, filter cloths, industrial sewing thread, and more.
Ramie is not a commonly used fibre. Approximately 500,000 tonnes is produced each year in China, which makes up about 96% of worldwide production. Compare that to flax fibre, which accounted for 1.075 million tonnes in 2020.
The plant requires a hot, humid climate to grow. It can be harvested two to three times per year, and up to six times in ideal growing conditions.
Ramie is harvested through decortication, a manually intensive process. The stalks are cut by hand, leaving the roots to grow again. The manual labor involved – hacking, stripping, soaking – is the main reason for ramie’s low supply and higher price tag. But new technologies are making it easier to produce and harvest.
As a natural fibre, ramie is biodegradable and will completely break down in soil. But if combined with synthetic fibres, coatings, sewing threads, or dyes, this would obviously change.

KEY PROPERTIES:

Anti-Fungal
Anti-Microbial
Breathable
Compostable
Heat Resistant
Hypoallergenic
Lightweight
Mould-Resistant
Recyclable
Regenerative
Strong

INDUSTRY:

Beauty
Food & Beverage
Packaging
Textiles

AVAILABILITY:

Commercially Available

DIVE DEEPER:

Ramie is a traditional crop in China, but fewer farmers are growing it. While it is now easier to harvest and extract the fibre, demand has fallen, meaning there is little incentive for farmers to grow it.
Poor land management and a lack of planting materials are also contributing to a decrease in ramie production. Uniting researchers, farmers, industries, and designers will help bring this plant back into the mainstream so we can all benefit from its many advantages.
The plant can grow in less than ideal conditions, such as heavy metal-saturated fields, which lends itself to environmental sustainability. And being a perennial that can grow for up to 20 years, its roots can grow deep, storing carbon underground rather than releasing it as CO2 into the atmosphere.
It should be no surprise that the plastic and microplastic problem involves every industry. Whether that’s the plastic fibres in beauty products, such as loofahs and other washing and scrubbing tools, polyester in clothing, or synthetic fibres in household furnishings, fossil fuel fibres have found their way into everything. Ramie can be used as a replacement in all of these industries.
You’ve probably heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, that giant pile of garbage and debris bigger than Texas floating out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Most of what makes up that oceanic landfill is fishing equipment: fishing nets account for 46% of the garbage. By using ramie – and its ability to become stronger when wet – we can replace nylon fishing nets with natural fibres, and as the oceans are cleaned up, less plastic will re-enter them.
Other ramie uses include food, tea, medicine, and the construction industry. The leaves are edible and a key ingredient in some rice cakes in parts of Asia. The leaves and roots together are used for therapeutic purposes in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), and the whole plant is used as feed for livestock and fish farming. Ramie can be used in construction as a replacement for fibreglass, and waste from fibre production can be used in the Paper industry.
Real world uses of ramie include late Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake creating a line made from ramie denim, and high street fashion giant Banana Republic releasing a line of 100% ramie blouses and dresses.

A ramie plant, also known by its latin name as Boehmeria nivea / Source: Shutterstock

Ramie blouse by Banana Republic / Source: Banana Republic

KEY FACTS:

8x

Ramie is eight times stronger than cotton

96%

of worldwide ramie production comes from China, producing 500,000 tonnes each year

20yrs

Ramie can grow for up to 20 years

Key Questions to Ask:

Do you need scalability?

As mentioned previously, there just isn’t as much ramie produced annually as other natural fibres. If you need vast quantities of it, would an alternative natural fibre such as Linen, Cotton, or Hemp be more suitable?

Is elasticity important for you?

Ramie is not elastic. It can be blended to create some elasticity, but it doesn’t have much on its own. Is this something you require for your designs? If so, consider blends or different fibres, but make sure not to blend it with plastic.

What other uses can you think of for ramie?

Is there something you have in mind but haven’t read here? As the thinnest of the bast hurd fibres, and with the ability to become stronger when wet, could ramie replace synthetic fishing lines, sewing threads, and even everyday paper packaging, for instance? The possibilities for the plant seem pretty high given its capabilities and limited real-world experimentation.