Processing Dogbane

[Hillbilly]

I like butterfly milkweed and common milkweed-the fibers are softer than dogbane and nearly as strong, especially the butterflyweed. Blue star (Amsonia) is another one of the better cordage plants.

[ricktrojanowski]

Hillbilly-Any tricks you use for getting the fibers out of the common milkweed?  Do you process dry or green? Milkweed is easier to find than dogbane in my area.  But I have such a fight getting it clean.

[sailordad]

Hillbilly-Any tricks you use for getting the fibers out of the common milkweed?  Do you process dry or green? Milkweed is easier to find than dogbane in my area.  But I have such a fight getting it clean.

same for me
i have some that i already crushed and took out the woody core.its been sitting since october with the outer bark still on.i tried again the other night to get the outer bark off
by rolling between my fingers,just like on the u-tube video,i can get the bark off but then the fiber strands seem to break also.you end up with clean fibers,short though like 6" long.
i did have better luck when i first picked,and it was really wet.the bark and fibers were naturally retted and it was esier than all get to seperate the fibers from the outer bark,and they stayed full length.

so i am taking all my dried milkweed stalks and going to try retting them.i'll let ya  know the results.
not sure what kind of milkweed it is,it does have strong fibers,and makes for good cordage.

[Hillbilly]

Sometimes the bark comes off pretty easy, sometimes it doesnt. I have done milkweed green and dry both, I usually do it dry. You can scrape the bark off with your thumbnail or a knife blade turned up perpendicular if you want it completely clean, or just grab a big wad of fibers and start doing the "bicycle" thing with your hands, it usually gets most of it off, and more will come off as you twist it into cordage.

[Pat B]

Steve, I've been playing with the stuff you brought to the camp-o-rama and am amazed how strong it is. I've only tried the dogbane and not the milkweed yet.    Pat