Redecker 2022

Brushing up your knowledge Bürstenhaus Redecker BRISTLES FROM NATURAL FIBRES TAMPICO FIBRE is obtained from the leaf ribs of a type of agave which grows on the high plains of Mexico. It has a high degree of shape retention, and is used for scrubbing brushes, washing brushes, and wherever high heat resistance is required. PALMYRA FIBRE comes from the leaf ribs of palmyra palms which occur in India and Sri Lanka. The core from the stem of this palm provides the starch-containing foodstuff sago. Palmy- ra fibre is, like all plant fibres, wet-resistant and is used mainly for street-sweeping brooms. However it is mainly blended with other plant fibres to make UNION FIBRE , a mixture which has proved itself above all for vegetable scrubbing brushes, mops, and scrubbers because of its hardness and resilience. ARENGA is obtained from the leaf fibres of the Asian sugar palm. Its natural colour is dark grey to black. Arenga is finer and softer than other palm fibres, but is nevertheless tough and elastic. Thanks to its lack of sensitivity to wetness, it is ideal for brushes for outdoor use. SISAL derives from the leaf fibres of the Mexican sisal palm. Its resistance makes it ideal for the manufacture of mats and mas- sage gloves. It is not suitable for producing brushes. COCO FIBRE is obtained from the fruit of the coconut palm. The fibres lie between the external leathery shell and the actual co- conut. They can grow up to 30 cm in length, and are used as bristles for brooms, brushes, and hand brushes. As braided cords, coconut fibres are also made into mats. The name RICE STRAW is somewhat misleading, as the plant fromwhich it is obtained has nothing to do with rice. ‘Rice straw’ comes from sorghum, a type of cereal which is native to an area from the sub-tropics to the Balkans. Sorghum straw for the manufacture of ‘rice straw’, or more correctly, sorghum brooms obtained from the upper part of the entire plant, inclu- ding the panicle. In Germany, the ‘rice straw broom’ became known in the 1960s thanks to guest workers who emigrated from the Balkan countries. In just the same way as rice straw, the name RICE ROOT is in- correct for this particular fibre, as the material for rice root bru- shes does not come from a rice plant, but instead from a grass type called zatacon, which grows as a wild plant in the Mexican highlands. The incorrect name probably derives from the Spa- nish word ‘raiz’, which means ‘root’. In fact the extremely tough plant fibre comes from the finely corrugated roots of this plant, and is used for very hard scouring brushes.