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- Kim Hyeon-chul
researcher with the Functional Mulberry Material RIS Team, the Korea Institute for the Knitting Industry
- In the past, Koreans used to call hanji ??em>baek (hundred)-ji?? indicating that the paper was made in a process involving one hundred different tasks such as cutting a mulberry tree, boiling, steaming, drying, de-barking, re-boiling, beating, cutting out, and drying. The paper, made by experienced craftsmen via a painstaking process, had been prized since the Goryeo Period.
In his book Jilin Leishi (é·??é¡??), Sun Mu (å«ç?) of the Northern Song Dynasty spoke very highly of the ??ulberry paper of Goryeo,??describing it as ??ovable material which is white and glossy.????he Goryeo paper??was a ??ust-have??item on the lists of goods sent from Goryeo to China as gifts. It is said that only the Goryeo paper was used in the compilation of the annals of the Chinese Dynasties.
- Concerning the recent news about the development of clothes made with hanji, we should remember that our Korean ancestors wore such clothes long ago, including oil-soaked hanji garments for rainy days or hanji-padded winter clothes for soldiers stationed in the Northern Provinces. Suits of armor made of layers of lacquered hanji were so hard that enemy arrows could not penetrate them. During the Joseon Period, many members of the nobility liked to wear shoes made with hanji, thereby creating demand for the suppliers, according to the records.
- The mulberry fabric used to make hanji absorbs sweat and dries out quickly. It also rapidly eliminates the three leading causes of a sense of discomfort, i.e. namely ammonia, formaldehyde, and benzene. Thus, hanji-made clothes offer the wearer a pleasant sense of comfort.
- These days, mulberry yarns used to make clothes are mass produced using machines based on the traditional hanji-making technique. Machine-made hanji is thinner than its predecessor and has a uniform quality free of defects.
- Whatever made it possible for the paper to be transformed into textile yarns? Paper strings used to make baskets, mesh bags, dinner tables, portable toilets or clothes are one answer to that question. Hanji is cut into given widths and twisted into string. Mulberry yarns are made by machines based on such a method.
- Wide sheets of hanji are cut into tens of thin strips (slitting). The thin strips are wound around a bobbin with a uniform tension (winding). They are then twisted into a given pattern (twisting). In this way, mulberry yarns of uniform quality are produced.
- Mulberry yarns thus produced have about 80% of the strength of cotton yarns so there is no problem in using them as a raw material for clothing. In terms of their uniformity and friction coefficient, they are similar - or even superior - to cotton yarns. As for dyeing, they can withstand more than 30 washes without discoloration.
- What is particularly outstanding is their superb functionality as yarns that do not require special post processing. In the case of artificial fiber yarns, they should undergo such a process to obtain their fabled quick-drying and antibacterial characteristics.
- Mulberry yarns are used in a wide variety of applications: highly functional clothes made of new materials, such as inner and outer garments; hanbok; sportswear; garments for the deceased or patients; bedding for sickrooms; wallpaper designed to prevent atopic dermatitis; curtains; household goods; vehicle fuel filters; and air filters.
- The Functional Mulberry Material RIS Team of the Korea Institute for the Knitting Industry succeeded in developing a technology for the mass production of mulberry yarns after three years of research, and transferred the technology to various businesses in the Iksan area, including Ssangyeong Spinning, Jeonil D & F, Jirisan Hanji, and Chunyang Paper. These businesses started by introducing simple items such as socks and inner garments, and are now producing a more diverse range of clothing made of mulberry yarns.
