Sisal

Sisal is an agave which produces a stiff fiber typically used for creating twine, rope as well as dartboards. The term may pertain both to the plant or fiber, based on situation. It is usually wrongly called sisal hemp since hemp was for hundreds of years a primary resource for fiber, and so other fibers have been at times named after it.


The plant's source is unclear; although customarily it had been considered as a native of Yucatan, there aren't any information of botanical collections from there. H.S. Gentry hypothesized a Chiapas origin, on the strength of traditional local usage. During the nineteenth century, sisal farming propagated to Florida, the Caribbean islands as well as Brazil, and also to countries in Africa, particularly Tanzania and Kenya, and Asia. The earliest commercial plantings in Brazil were created in the late 1930s and the very first sisal fiber exports from there were produced in 1948. It wasn't before 1960s that Brazilian manufacturing increased and the first of many spinning mills was founded. These days Brazil is considered the biggest world manufacturer of sisal.

Typically utilized for rope and twine, sisal has numerous functions, such as paper, fabric, wall covers and carpets.