NATURE'S CLOTH

NATURE'S CLOTH

By Ken Anderson

Natural Wellness includes an awareness of clothing ourselves in natural fibers. Our skin is an important and often neglected organ of our body. It is the largest organ we have. It eliminates impurities, especially through sweating, and also breathes, while absorbing oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide. Synthetic fibers can obstruct this flow. Polyester, nylon, acrylic etc. don't breathe; they suffocate the skin by keeping air out and trapping toxins in. Natural fibers such as cotton, linen, wool and silk permit circulation; they are porous and allow for a free movement of energy.

COTTON is a beautiful, soft and cool vegetable fiber. The cotton plant yields the raw material in downy tufts or balls that are actually the covering of the seeds. This fabric has been used for thousands of years.

Cotton is strong and absorbent. If possible, try to find material that is vegetable dyed or in its natural color. Today there are many varieties of cotton fabric available: cotton knit, muslin, India cloth, cotton corduroy, challis, denim, cotton velour, velveteen, and cotton velvet. All these natural cloths are really comfortable and wear well. Muslin and India cloth are inexpensive; others are more expensive than the synthetics but less costly for your health.

LINEN comes from the flax plant, a tall plant, resembling grain, with pointed leaves and blue flowers. My wife and I stopped at a museum in New York, while doing health seminars, where they had a lady that took the flax plant and showed us how they hand processed it into fibers. She then spun it on a spinning wheel into yarn for cloth. The yarn is spun from the long inner fibers of the plant that remain when the outer coating and inner pith have rotted away. It has been found in several prehistoric excavations and bits of linen cloth have been discovered in Egyptian tombs, dating it to 2000 B.C

WOOL is a natural protein fiber gathered from sheep. Prov. 27:26 says, "the lambs are for thy clothing..." Its crimped and scaled structure creates air pockets so that it holds heat well, making it especially good for colder climates. It is the easiest natural fiber to prepare from its source to the finished product. The process goes like this: sheep sheering, fleece sorting, carding, spinning, & natural plant dyeing, to the final weaving.

It's one of the most readily accessible raw materials for use today. It allows us to create our own clothing from beginning to end, knowing the purity of the product. Manufactured 100% wool garments are available, but look out for wool that is mixed with synthetics.

SILK is the product of the silk "worm" or caterpillar that spins its silken cocoon to shelter itself while changing into a chrysalis. The caterpillar makes the cocoon by attaching itself with the fine silk threads to a twig and then squirting two thick streams of liquid from glands near its mouth as its head moves from side to side. When the cocoon is completed it's composed of approximately 4,000 yards of continuous filaments solidified and gummed together. Boiling water is used to soften this peanut shaped cocoon and a revolving brush loosens the strands so that they will unwind easily. Silk is very luxurious and precious; it was used centuries ago to make the finest clothes. This is just another part of The Natural Wellness Show ideas.

Animal skins: Animal Skins and Leather are yet another natural material that can be used. Animal Skins and Leather are yet another natural material that can be used.

Hemp: Is Natural.