PRODUCT OF JAVA

Wairarapa Times-Age, 19 September 1939, Page 3

PRODUCT OF JAVA

GREAT BUOYANCY OF KAPOK. Among the more unusual products which find their way to London is Kapok, details of which are given in the August number of “The Port of London Authority Monthly.” “From- Sourabaya and Semarang, the picturesque ports on the island of Java, from India, Ceylon and West Africa, come not only spices and tropical fruits and tea, but also Kapok, a silky white fibre of great resiliency. It is estimated that about 60 per cent of the 2,000 tons annually imported into the United Kingdom comes through London, where some of the most important users of kapok have their works. Consignments arrive in pressed bales at Tilbury Cargo Jetty. “Kapok is used as a filling for cushions and mattresses, but few people know that its buoyancy is five times that of cork, and it is used extensively in the manufacture of life-belts and life-saving; appliances. It is also an effective insulant and is used for lining ■ sleeping bags, aviator suits, etc. By a special process Kapok can now be made into blankets of a given size and varying thickness between one quarter and two inches. In this form it is used as a thermal insulant in the manufacture of refrigerators, cold storage rooms and insulated road and rail vehicles.”