Coir facts for kids
Coir, also known as coconut fiber, is a natural material that comes from the outer husk of coconuts. It's the strong, stringy part found between the hard inner shell and the smooth outer skin of a coconut. People use coir to make many things like floor mats, doormats, brushes, and even mattresses.
There are two main types of coir:
- Brown coir comes from ripe coconuts. It's used for things like padding in furniture, strong bags, and in gardening.
- White coir is taken from unripe coconuts. It's softer and used for making finer brushes, string, rope, and fishing nets. A cool thing about white coir is that it doesn't sink, which is great for fishing nets in deep water!
It's important not to mix up coir fiber with coir pith. Coir pith is the soft, powdery stuff left over after the coir fibers are taken out. It's also called coco peat. Both coir and coco peat are good at holding water, so they are often used in gardening instead of peat moss.
Contents
History of Coir Use
The word "coir" comes from the Tamil and Malayalam words for "cord" or "rope." People have been making ropes and cords from coconut fiber for a very long time!
Ancient people from Austronesia, who first grew coconuts, used coir a lot. They made ropes and strong cords called sennit to build their houses and special boats for their long trips across the Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean.
Later, Indian and Arab sailors also used coir for their ship ropes and rigging. Writers from the 11th century AD even mentioned how much coir was used on ships.
The coir industry also grew in the UK. In 1840, Captain Widely, Captain Logan, and Thomas Treloar started a company called Treloar and Sons. They made carpets and other floor coverings from coir.
What Coir is Made Of
Coir fibers are found between the hard inner shell and the outer skin of a coconut. Each tiny fiber is long and hollow, with thick walls made of a material called cellulose. When they are young, they are pale, but they turn yellow and get harder as they grow because of another material called lignin.
There are two main types of coir fibers:
- Brown coir comes from fully ripe coconuts. It's thick, strong, and can handle a lot of rubbing without breaking. This type is used for mats, brushes, and strong bags. Brown coir has more lignin and less cellulose than other fibers like flax or cotton, making it stronger but less bendy.
- White coir comes from coconuts that aren't fully ripe. It's white or light brown, smoother, and finer, but also weaker. White coir is usually spun into yarn for mats or rope.
Coir fiber is quite waterproof. It's one of the few natural fibers that isn't easily damaged by saltwater. Brown coir is processed using fresh water, while white coir can be processed with both fresh and saltwater.
How Coir is Processed
Green coconuts, picked after about six to 12 months, have soft white fibers. Brown fiber comes from fully ripe coconuts.
First, the fibrous outer layer of the coconut is taken off the hard shell. This can be done by hand, by pushing the coconut onto a sharp spike. Some people can do this to 2,000 coconuts a day! Machines can also do this much faster, processing up to 2,000 coconuts an hour.
Making Brown Coir
The husks are soaked in water, sometimes in pits or nets, to make the fibers soft and swell up. Then, the long, stiff fibers (called bristle fibers) are separated from the shorter, softer fibers (called mattress fibers). This is called wet-milling.
The mattress fibers are cleaned to remove dirt, dried in the sun, and then pressed into large blocks called bales. Some mattress fiber is kept a bit moist so it stays stretchy for making twisted fiber. Coir fiber is so stretchy that it can be twisted without breaking.
The longer bristle fibers are washed in clean water and dried. Then they are tied into bundles. They might also be cleaned and straightened with steel combs. Sometimes, coir bristle fiber is bleached and dyed to make different colors.
Making White Coir
The husks from unripe coconuts are left in a river or a water-filled pit for up to ten months. During this time, tiny living things called micro-organisms break down the plant parts around the fibers, making them loose. This process is called retting.
After retting, the husk pieces are beaten with iron rods to separate the long fibers. These fibers are then dried and cleaned. Once clean, the fiber is ready to be spun into yarn using a simple hand system or a spinning wheel.
In 2009, scientists in India found a new way to get coir fiber from coconut husks. This new method uses special chemicals called enzymes to separate the fibers. It helps prevent water pollution that can happen with the traditional retting process.
Treating Coir for Plants
Coir pith can have a lot of salt in it, so it's often treated before being used to grow plants. This usually involves soaking it in a special calcium solution. This process is called "buffering." After the salts are washed out, coir pith and coco chips become good for growing plants or even fungi.
Coir is naturally rich in potassium, which can sometimes cause problems for plants by making it harder for them to get magnesium and calcium. Coir fiber itself is rarely used as potting material, except for orchids, and doesn't need buffering.
Coir is a good material for growing plants without soil. It lasts a long time, holds a lot of water, and doesn't shrink when it dries out, making it easy to re-wet. It's also light, which can be good, but sometimes sand is added for weight. You also need to add nutrients like calcium and magnesium, often from dolomitic lime. The pH level of coir can change over time, which can affect plant growth.
Uses of Coir
Ropes, Mats, and More
Brown coir is used for many things like floor mats, doormats, brushes, mattresses, floor tiles, and strong bags. A small amount is also made into twine.
Pads of curled brown coir fiber are made by a machine that mats the fibers together. These pads are shaped and cut to fill mattresses and to help stop soil from washing away on river banks and hillsides. A lot of brown coir pads are sprayed with rubber to stick the fibers together. This "rubberized coir" is used as padding in cars in Europe. It's also used for packaging.
The main use for white coir is making rope. Mats woven from coir fiber are made from the finer types of bristle and white fiber, either by hand or with machines. White coir is also used to make fishing nets because it's very strong against saltwater.
Gardening and Farming
In gardening and farming, coir is used as a natural and decorative part of soil and potting mixes. People are worried about how sustainable it is to get peat moss from peatlands, so coir is becoming a popular alternative. However, some coir can have harmful fungi, so it's important to choose a good source. Coir can also help keep snails away from delicate plants and is used to grow plants in large greenhouses.
Coir is also a good material for growing mushrooms. It's usually mixed with another material called vermiculite and then heated with boiling water. After it cools, mushroom "spawn" (which is like the mushroom's roots) is added. The spawn grows in the coir mix and eventually produces mushrooms.
Coir can also be used as a soft bedding material for reptiles or spiders in their enclosures.
Coco peat, which is the waste from coir fiber industries, is washed, heat-treated, cleaned, and sorted. Then it's made into coco peat products of different sizes and densities. These are used in gardening, farming, and as a material to soak up spills in factories.
Coco peat is usually shipped in compressed blocks or discs. When you add water, a single kilogram of dry coco peat can expand to 15 liters of moist coco peat!
Coco peat is used to improve soil. It doesn't have many nutrients on its own, so it's usually mixed with other things or you need to add plant food. Coco peat from places like the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and India has some plant nutrients, including a lot of potassium. If there's too much potassium, you might need to add extra magnesium.
Sometimes, coco peat isn't fully broken down when it arrives. As it breaks down, it can use up nitrogen that plants need, which can make plants suffer from nitrogen deficiency. Also, some coco fiber can have too much salt and needs to be washed. Coco peat holds water well and can hold about 1,000 times more air than soil. It's a good idea to add slow-release fertilizers or natural fertilizers when growing with coco fiber.
Common uses for coco fiber include:
- Replacing peat, because it's free of most harmful germs and fungi. It's also produced in a way that doesn't harm the environment as much as peat mining.
- Mixing with sand, compost, and fertilizer to make good quality potting soil. Coco peat is usually a bit acidic, which is fine for many plants.
- As a material for growing mushrooms, which love the cellulose and lignin in coir.
Coco fiber can be used up to three times without losing much of its effectiveness. However, if plants grown in it were sick, the coco fiber should be sterilized before reusing.
Other Uses
Soaking Up Spills
Dry coconut coir pith is becoming popular for soaking up oil and other liquids. It's better than products made from clay or silica. Many other absorbents have to be dug out of the ground, but coconut coir pith is a waste product that's plentiful in countries where coconuts are a major crop.
Animal Bedding
Coconut coir pith is also used as bedding in litter boxes, animal farms, and pet houses to soak up animal waste.
Building Material
Coconut fiber (coir) is used as a building material because it's natural and good for the environment. It also resists heat, is very tough, flexible, lasts a long time, can be renewed, and is cheap. Studies have shown that adding just 2% of coconut fiber to concrete can make the concrete stronger.
Safety
Coir can cause allergies in some people, especially because latex and other materials are often used to treat coir.
Major Producers
| Country | Weight (tonnes) |
|---|---|
 India |
586,686 |
 Vietnam |
390,541 |
 Sri Lanka |
161,791 |
 Thailand |
64,098 |
 Ghana |
39,548 |
| All others | 33,960 |
| World | 1,276,624 |
Around the world, about 1,276,624 tonnes of coir fiber are produced each year. India, especially in the areas of Pollachi and Kerala, produces 60% of all the white coir fiber in the world. Sri Lanka produces 36% of all the brown fiber.
More than half of the coir fiber made each year is used in the countries where it's produced, mostly in India. Together, India and Sri Lanka produced 59% of the world's coir in 2020. Sri Lanka is still the biggest exporter of coir fiber and products made from it.
Images for kids
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A close-up view of coir fibre
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Segregation of coir fibre
