Philippine Mats / Philippine Craftsman Reprint Series No. 1

by Philippines. Bureau of Education

The dye fluid is carefully prepared. Chips of sappan are boiled in a large copper pot for one day. A quantity of turmeric roots and annatto seeds are pounded separately in mortars until they are reduced to a very fine state. These are then separately treated with water and pressed, the result being a turmeric water and an annatto water. These two are mixed and poured into the boiling sappan. After about 25 minutes the bundles of sabutan are placed in the pot and the whole is allowed to boil until every part of the fiber is uniformly colored. After having been boiled sufficiently, the bundles are removed and placed in a large basket, later to be dried in the shade. They are left in the night air for three or four nights and are then rolled up in coarse mats. The shades procured vary with the proportions of the dye materials used. Some are a decided orange, others are light yellow.

Yellow: Yellow straw is produced in the same manner, using turmeric and annatto only.

Red: In the production of red straw the bundles are treated with kolis leaves in the same manner as in the preliminary process for red-orange straw. In a pot capable of holding 25 fist bundles of sabutan, four gantas[10] of finely chopped sappan are placed. Over this are placed 15 bundles of the straw, which in turn is covered with one ganta of chopped sappan. The remaining 10 bundles are then added and covered with still another ganta of sappan. The pot is filled with water and set over a fire for from twelve to fifteen hours. Care is taken that the bundles are always kept under the water and that all parts of the material are uniformly colored. The loss by evaporation is counterbalanced by adding water from time to time. When well colored, the straw is removed from the pot and placed in a large basket for a day and is then hung in the sunshine to be dried. It should be allowed to remain in the night air; when thoroughly dried it is rolled in coarse mats.

Black: Black straw, a warm dark gray, is prepared from the red material. Buds of bananas, leaves of kabling, talisay, camagon, and the castor plant are pounded in a mortar and are mixed with fine particles of black clay such as can be obtained from rice paddies. Sappan water, made by boiling sappan chips, is then added to the mixture and the entire mass is placed in a large receptacle for a day. Red straw is put into this mixture and allowed to remain for two days. It is removed on the third day and again returned to the mixture on the fourth day. On the fifth day the straw is finally removed and placed in the sun, being kept in the air at night.

Coal tar dyes are used in the production of green and purple straws. These are purchased from the Chinese stores. The prepared gray fiber is also employed with these dyes. The usual method of boiling in a tin can until the desired shade is obtained, is followed. The straw is dried in the sun and kept in the night air. Colors produced are not so uniform or so satisfactory as the others described and are seldom used.

Plate XLI. Pandan of Majayjay.

Weaving the mats.—Before weaving the mat the worker runs the straw over the ruler-like piece of bamboo as already explained, and removes the uncut base to which it has been attached during the various processes of preparation, bleaching, and dyeing. One side of the mat is first woven the entire length, and is finished by having the edges turned in. This edge is then placed in a slit made in a narrow stick of wood and is tied in place with strips of sabutan straw running around the stick and through the mat. The mat is allowed to remain attached to this stick until it has been completely woven. As weaving proceeds, the finished part is rolled up on the stick, thus being out of the way of the weaver. This arrangement also serves to keep the mat in position during weaving and prevents it from getting out of shape. Single straws are used and consequently the mat has a right and a wrong side.[11] The most expensive mats, which are seldom made, are double and of very fine material.

The extension and cultivation of sabutan.—For a number of years there has been an increasing interest throughout the Philippines in the propagation of sabutan. Teachers in various places have procured suckers from the towns along the east coast of Laguna de Bay, and have planted them out with the idea of having their own industrial material close at hand. Many of these attempts have been failures, since not enough information had been obtained concerning the soil and moisture conditions necessary for the cultivation of the plant. The Bureau of Education has therefore gathered as much information as possible on the cultivation of sabutan, based upon the experience of various persons who have attempted planting it.

It has been found that, in those regions having a dry season, the suckers should be planted early in the rainy season so that they may become well rooted before the rains stop, or else water should be provided through irrigation ditches. In nearly all cases it has been reported that the loss of plants resulted from lack of water at the planting period.