Milkweed Floss Properties are exceptional…
It is six times warmer than wool.
Milkweed floss is extremely buoyant and an excellent material for flotation needs. It has the capacity to float objects 30 times its own weight and is six times more buoyant than cork. During World War II, milkweed floss was used to fill military life jackets.
It is a “cruelty-free” alternative to goose down and has the same light-weight, soft, qualities for use as a batting fiber in comforters, pillows, and jackets. The floss that carry the seeds in the wind are very similar in structure to goose down. Numerous fibers radiate from a central core. Goose down tends to be denser by volume, but Milkweed plumes are composed of longer filaments and springs back after being crushed with much of the same resilience (or “loft”) as goose down.
For those that want to dig really deep into Milkweed Floss properties, here are its scientific metrics:
Physical Properties of Milkweed Fiber:
- Mean length: 21.3 mm
- Strength: 23.0 g/tex
- Fineness: 2.4
- Elongation: 6.0%
- Diameter: 10-18 μm
- Density: 0.97 g/cc
Chemical composition of Milkweed Fiber:
- Cellulose (wt %): 50- 55.0
- Hemicellulose (wt %): 24.0
- Lignin (wt %): 18.0
- Sugar (wt %): 2-3
- Wax (wt %): 1.0–2.0
- Ash (wt %): 0.5-1
Mechanical properties of Milkweed:
- Fiber length: ~ 2 cm
- Tensile Strength (MPa): 381.0
- Elongation at Break (%): 2.1
- Young’s Modulus (GPa): 4.0