| After soaking the kilo of dried fibre, it was cooked in a large pot in a solution of 20 grams of Soda Ash and boiling water. It was brought to a slow boil and watched for several hours. The object of cooking the fibres in soda ash for so long is to remove everything that is not cellulose. | |
 | Every 30 minutes we tested the fibre to see how easily it separated both along and across the grain. |
| The fibres were stirred and turned over in the cooking pot each half hour as well. After two and a half hours it seemed ready. |  |
 | Once drained and rinsed the fibre was placed in the sink again to rinse for an hour in slowly running water. |
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After it had rinsed for an hour, we carefully squeezed the excess water from it - being gentle - and then picked out any hard or discoloured bits by hand. |
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This is how the cooked and washed fibre looked. |