Nettle
Interview with Danish weaver and anthropologist Ellen Bangsbo
Introduction
I had the pleasure of visiting Ellen Bangsbo back in January 2022 where she invited me over to see her extensive material collection of nettle fabric and hear about her work with the nettle plant. Later the same year I participated in her nettle work shop on the Danish island Fyn (Funen) where the Flax museum is located. Ellen works with the nettle plant in all stages and also enjoys to knit decorative pieces from the fresh nettle bark when still wet. Please meet Ellen:
Name
Ellen Bangsbo
Education
MA Textile Design, School of Applied Arts in Copenhagen in 1978. I also have a degree in anthropology from the University of Copenhagen, which I obtained in 2001.
Location
Copenhagen Denmark
Field of work
For several decades, I have focused on researching education for Tibetans living in Tibet and in exile, resulting in Danish and international publications. Now, I have returned to my textile field as a practicing weaver and writer, with a focus on textiles in the West as well as in the Himalayas and on the Tibetan Plateau. I ground my writing in literature, my networks, as well as fieldwork and my many travels and stays in Asia.
Photo: Lis Brandt
Q : How long have you been working with nettle fiber?
A : My final project from the School of Applied Arts in 1978 was a tapestry, as well as an experimental project in developing alternative yarns from plant fibers intended as an exciting input in my tapestries. I investigated various fibers such as hops, lime bast, cabbage stalks, hemp, and especially the Danish nettle fiber (Urtica dioica), which quickly appeared the most promising and usable plant fiber. All stem fibers are extracted using the same method as is used in processing flax.
Q : Why nettle? What makes you prefer this fiber over other plant fibers?
A : Even though the fiber yield in nettle is quite low I appreciate this specific fiber and I love the fact that the Danish stinging nettle is easy to find and process. Furthermore I can apply my knowledge from other plant fibers like flax and hemp when working with the nettle. I experimented with field retting, cold and hot water retting, all techniques I had learned at a 7-day course in flax processing. The extraction of fiber from flax and nettle is quite similar, although nettle can be easily "broken" by hand, thus releasing the fiber. My interest in nettle fiber led me to Asia, where I had heard about the large Himalayan nettle (Girardinia diversifolia), from which locals process a very strong and fine fiber, even in large quantities. I conducted two field studies (in 1979 and 2010) in the mountains of Nepal, where I studied the locals' methods in harvesting and processing the large Himalayan nettle. I have used the fiber from this nettle in my weaving both as a processed fiber and as completely raw with bark. When processing the Danish nettle fibers I also use the Nepalese way of retting the raw fibers, which is done by boiling the fibers for approximately three hours with wood ash. To use potash instead of wood ash also works well.
Q : What are the main qualities of nettle?
A : The processed nettle fiber is strong and beautiful in varied natural colors ranging from light to dark golden or greenish. It also takes dye well, actually better than linen fiber. In Asia, they also use nettle yarn for their fishing nets, so it is a very durable fiber.
The Allo nettle plant growing in India and Nepal is very large and has a much higher yield than the European nettle.
Q : Are there any drawbacks to this fiber?
A : Manual processing is very sustainable, but it is resource and time-consuming. In industrial processing, enzymes can be used for the retting process. With this method, the wastewater must be purified, which increases the cost and may make the process unprofitable. This may be an explanation as to why we have not yet seen nettle fiber in textile production to a significant extent. Wild Danish nettle only yields 5-8% of stem weight, which is a very small yield for many hours of work. The improved textile nettle Urtica dioica L., based on the research of G. Bredemann in the 1950s, yields about 15-17%, and it is this improved nettle that is used in European research.
Q : Where do you obtain your nettles from? (the geographical location)
A : Nettle grows everywhere in Denmark. I just harvest where I am and where I see some strong and tall nettles. The summer of 2022 was quite dry, and the nettles were generally small and with weak or only a little fiber. Therefore, the best nettles could be found where they grew near irrigation systems, that is, in some gardens and at some fields. Nettles that grow in the shade give a darker fiber and have more branches, which weaken the fiber. Growth on the sunny side seems to be better and gives a lighter color, but again, one should plan the harvest based on which fiber is preferred
Q : Could you explain where good growth conditions for nettle are?
A : The nettle plant grows on nutrient-rich soil, especially around settlements. It is an indicator plant for nitrogen-rich soil.
Q: When do you harvest your nettles?
A : As food, one should harvest the top shoots in spring. For fiber extraction, Danish nettle is not worth harvesting before mid or late August. It should be at a height of 1.5 meters or more. The nettle can be harvested until the end of December or even in January. But it depends on the weather. A wet autumn and winter will cause the stem to decay quickly, and the outer layer of the stem will decay first. This breaks down the fiber, which crumbles or disappears altogether.
Q : Is there practical knowledge, theoretical knowledge, or other good facts about nettle that you would like to highlight and convey to all of us?
A : The extraction of nettle fiber has been the focus of serious research in several European countries over the past few decades. There are also PhD theses on the subject. In some European countries, there have been several EU-funded research projects, which have led to a series of conferences and interesting publications. Many professional publications, however, are written in a very specialized chemical research language, which may seem difficult for 'ordinary' textile people like us to access.
Are there publications, projects, or exciting professionals like you that you can refer to if you want to know more about nettle?
My graduation project included a written report on the use and processing of plant fibers.
This report is now available as a free e-book (Sorry only in Danish but the images and illustrations are still useful) https://hoervaevsmuseet.dk/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/E-bog_Behandling-af-hoer-_Ellen-Bangsbo_2019-6.pdf
Another good article is this:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9230748/
Ellen testing indigo dye on different fibers. From the top two different nettle yarns, then hemp, flax and cotton.
