Kapok processing industry center
From the kapok tree that bears fruit, it is then harvested by farmers and dried so that it becomes a lump of kapok that is ready to be processed and produced. On the outskirts of the city of Pati, Central Java, there is a kapok processing industry center, the majority of local people produce kapok processing, ranging from home industries to large-scale factory industries, empowering natural products into superior products that can be utilized by humans, such as from kapok to yarn, then into cotton cloth, or into a jacket to replace goose feathers. Not only that, the kapok results must go through several processes to get the best quality kapok, and the types of quality will be separated, how is the kapok processing process at the kapok industry center in Pati.
Starting from kapok tree farmers harvesting kapok, then dried and will be sold to the processing industry, after that the first process is called ONCEK, namely the process of peeling the kapok skin and taking the contents which are already in the form of raw kapok along with its seeds. After the kapok is separated from its skin, it is then packed in a full sack and dried so that the kapok results are drier and it is easy to sort the quality of the kapok, the drying process is carried out manually by human power, each sack brought by workers begins to be spread in a special yard for drying and then continued with even distribution with simple tools, after the drying process is waited for a while until dry, the time is uncertain depending on the hot or cloudy weather, if it is hot enough 30 – 1 hour, but every 30 minutes the kapok that is dried is turned over so that it will dry evenly.
After the drying process, the cotton results will be collected into one and put into a grinding machine to get the best quality, this process is carried out by several workers and one worker is ready in a room containing the results of the cotton filter to determine the best quality of cotton, this process is repeated over and over again until the stock of raw cotton material runs out.
The kapok processing process does not only take the kapok results, the seeds and skin are sold again because they can still be processed into useful products, such as one of the kapok fruit skins used as brackets or charcoal, then kapok seeds can be used as cooking oil. This industrial process has no materials or waste, all can be utilized.
From the process that I have told you, I saw the workers wearing head coverings and glasses, wearing long sleeves and special clothes. Wearing glasses is not about wanting to be stylish but to cover their eyes from dry cotton strands, if they get into the eyes it is quite painful, the master of the shirt is an easy solution to cover their noses so as not to inhale soft cotton strands because it can be harmful to their health,
