Jute material has been used for centuries in the production of everyday goods such as carpets, twine, rope, rugs and hessian cloth. The history of jute products as a trade can be traced back to the early part of the 17th century when British controlled India. The country happens to be the largest manufacturer of jute products in the entire world.
The natural fibre is durable yet understated and lends itself suitably to rough use. Jute happens to be the second most vital fibre following cotton. However, jute has recently begun to pop back up on the radar for reasons completely different from what you can expect from the material – fashion.
Jute, commonly known as the ‘Golden Fibre’, has managed carved out a niche fan following for itself in the global style industry and is making its presence felt as a fabulous, eco friendly material in the field of footwear. Jute is categorized as an eco friendly fibre due to its high capacity to absorb moisture, drainage characteristics and flexibility. The material is available easily and is bio-degradable.
Use of Renotex
APL Polyfab has teamed up with Texon International and the two companies have been busy in drawing up proper plans to market and even help with the development of the Renotex Jute Board for purposes related to footwear. The Renotex Jute Board is also going to be used for a variety of other applications.
The Managing Director of APL Polyfab, Mr. Mani Almal, explains that it was mainly during the year 2000 when the focus began to shift towards environmentally safe and natural products, and jute happened to be one of the finest natural crop fibres with excess production in the state of Bengal in India. Owing to its inherent natural properties, the jute crop boasts of unlimited potential in diversified applications.
Apart from use in the manufacture of green, stylish footwear, the applications that have been planned for Renotex Jute Board at the moment is expected to include use in helmets, automobiles and other industries that require materials with fire retardant characteristics.
Promotion of Renotex Jute
According to the promotional article, Renotex jute is not only a completely natural and ecologically aware product but it also boasts of most of the properties that are needed by footwear insoles and footbeds, both of which are satisfied with a single, durable product. Renotex jute, thus, facilitates in saving different kinds of materials in large amounts. The article continues that the flexible range of Renotex ensures protection from water absorption with improved properties of de-absorption, minus the standard tear/ tensile ability. Other impressive properties of Renotex jute seem to include breathability, bonding, anti-skid, electrical resistance and characteristics of insulations to remain compatible with the insoles.
Renotex – R is being marketed as a flexible sort of jute, excellent for use in insoles, matting and safety shoes. On the other hand, Renotex – P happens to be a moldable material with environmentally safe rubbers and resin for the purpose of foot beds along with several premium kinds of high end, expensive footwear.
But this is not the first time that jute has been made use of in the footwear industry. The material is considerably popular for the purpose of manufacture of jute slippers, jute shoes, jute mojris and even juttis made of jute. The popularity of jute footwear has considerably increased since the sale of such footwear is no longer limited to the shoe shops; in fact, popular online shopping websites have begun to showcase jute footwear which can be purchased by customers.
The present scenario is just the tip of the iceberg though, since the popularity of jute footwear is bound to increase steadily in the coming years.