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The Ancient, Sustainable Secret of Banana Fiber Clothing

From past traditions to modern creations, discover how banana fiber is woven into beautiful garments across Southeast Asia.

Kathleen Bennett Nov 10, 2025 - 8 min read

The Ancient, Sustainable Secret of Banana Fiber Clothing Primary Image

Handwoven abaca, banana fiber, from the Philippines. Photo courtesy of the Rhode Island School of Design Museum.

Contents

From Southeast Asia across the Pacific to Micronesia, people have been making cloth from banana plants long before their islands were discovered by Western explorers. Weavers in the Philippines, Japan, and Micronesia continue today to extract fibers from varieties of Musa plants and to weave beautiful and durable fabrics.

Philippines

The oldest known banana textile (1200–1400 BCE) originating from the Philippine Islands is an intricate ikat (resist-dyed warp) burial cloth made from banana fiber and discovered on Banton Island in 1936.

T’nalak weaver (T’boli) at Lake Sebu, South Cotabat. Photo courtesy of WayPH

Indigenous Filipino weavers agree that the art of weaving was a gift from a goddess; however, each cultural group names a different goddess. Among the T’boli “dreamweavers,” the goddess Fu Dalu brings natural and spiritual imagery to them while they sleep. These dream-inspired textiles are considered sacred and are never cut.

Different Layers

Banana trees have a stalk (petiole) consisting of many fibrous layers. In the Philippines, the stalks of Musa textilis are cut, pulled off as strips (tuxies) and separated into fibers of varying grades. The strong outer fibers are twisted to form salt-resistant ropes, nets, and matting. The finer and whiter inner fibers are stripped while fresh, using a knife, then washed, combed, and air-dried in the sun. After drying, they are sorted by color; the palest fibers are the rarest and most highly valued. Fibers are hand-knotted and wound into bundles that are rolled between the hands to soften them. Harder fibers are used for the warp, with the finest threads used in the weft. The T’boli beat their finished fabric and hand-polish it with a cowrie shell. The final fabric is lightweight and soft, and it does not stick to the body, even when wet.

Woman’s blouse (bado) from Mandaya, Philippine, circa 1800-1900, made from banana-plant fiber, bast fiber, mother-of-pearl disks, metal sequins; plain weave with embroidery and appliqué. Photo courtesy of Rhode Island School of Design

While some modern weavers now use commercial colorants to add brightness, traditional groups originally used only natural dyes to produce their ikat patterns:

  • Red: bark and root shavings of the small tree Morinda citrifolia
  • Black: leaves and fruit of the tropical tree Diospyros nitida and other species
  • White/cream/ecru: Undyed natural shades of abaca

Coarse fiber from the outer stalk, known as Manila hemp, has long been used to make durable cordage and rope—in great demand for sail rigging and fishing nets.

Okinawa, Japan

The ito-basho (thread banana) or Musa balbisiana (synonym: Musa liukiuensis) was introduced to the Japanese Islands around the thirteenth century by way of China. The weaving of basho (banana fiber cloth) in Japan dates to about the fourteenth century. Fifty years ago, Japan officially designated Kijoka bashofu as an important intangible cultural property. The layers of pseudostem are pulled apart and placed into separate bundles before the fibers are removed. The outermost layer, uwaha (skin), is used for cushions, tablecloths, and household textiles; the next layer, nahau, for obi. Beneath nahau is the nahagu (inner layer), used to weave bashofu (Japanese banana fabric). Core fibers, kiyagi, break and discolor easily; these are used for thread or combined in bashofu weft.

Child’s Robe from Ryūkyū Islands, Japan, nineteenth century banana fiber (basho) and cotton. Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1981.359

Steps in the making of bashofu

  • To-basho no saibo 糸芭蕉の栽培 Cultivation and tending ito-basho (Japanese fiber banana). The leaves and core are removed to promote the growth of finer inner fiber.
  • U-toushi 苧倒し Selection and cutting of ito-basho stems from October to February, when the stems are softest.
  • U-hagi/roma-hagi 苧剥ぎ The outer bark-like layer is peeled away from the stem and the layers separated.
  • U-daki 苧炊き Fibers are boiled with wood ash, the alkalinity carefully controlled so that fibers are softened but not broken, then rinsed with clear water.
  • U-biki 苧引き Hemp-pulling. Using an ebi (bamboo razor), the fibers are scraped, split, and separated into weft (soft threads) and warp (hard threads), which are dried in shade.
  • Chingu-maki チング巻き The process of rolling the threads into balls (chingu) to prevent fraying.
  • U-umi 苧績み Chingu are placed in bowls of water to soak, then the fibers are manually split into the desired thickness. Individual threads are tied with a hata (weaver’s) knot.
  • Yori-kake 撚り掛け The knotted threads are twisted to smooth them and reduce fraying.
  • Kasuri-musubi 絣結び Bundles of fibers are tied, wrapped, and dyed to create the traditional ikat patterns.
  • Senshoku 染色 Dyeing process using indigo and a carambola (star fruit) mordant.
  • Ori 織り Weaving—Only during the rainy season; humidity aids in the process.
  • Sentaku 洗濯 Finishing—The woven bashofu is rinsed and stretched, then laid flat and rubbed with a cup.

Micronesia

Across Micronesia, hand-knotted banana fiber was woven into textiles several centuries before European contact. Long, ornate lengths of fabric were worn as sashes (dohr) in the Carolina Islands and as skirts and loincloths (tol) on Kosrae. On Fais Island, the tradition of weaving burial cloth (machi) of banana fiber is being revived.

Bobbin lace edgings made of Abaca fiber, Musa Textilis on Capiz, the Philippines Islands. The five seven-inch torchon style bobbin lace samples are displayed in a red matted frame. They are numbered and labeled for the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian American History Museum

While abaca and bashofu are woven using knotted threads, production of banana stalks and waste into spinnable fiber has been developed commercially. Like piña, spun yarn will not be as fine or soft as the individually knotted threads; it can be woven, twisted into rope, or felted into paper, tea bags, currency, and mats. Spun as thread, it can be made into lace; the American History Museum has an example of abaca bobbin lace made in Capiz, Philippines (1900–1910).

Resources

Kathleen Bennett is an avid researcher and writer, especially about textiles and medicinal plants. She learned knitting from a French Swiss co-worker, and her first sweater was a Scandinavian ski sweater in the round. She later taught herself to dye with lichens and to spin and weave. 

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