Materials

Silk is a well known and very hard wearing natural fibre renowned for the shimmering reflection of light and iridescent colours. A small amount of natural cotton is added to this material to produce a striking 'textured finish' to the final product.

The material is hand woven on wooden looms and due to the hand crafted nature of the product small differences in colour and finish may occur - these should not be regarded as defects but rather as adding to the individuality and uniqueness of our products.

As the name suggests, our smooth silk covers differ from the textured finish in having a beautiful smooth sheen rather than an textured feel. Smooth silk retains the iridescence but gives a sensuous cool feel to the skin.

As smooth silk is hand crafted rather than mass produced, small variations in colour and shade help to define each individual cover and product as being unique.

We offer a number of natural cotton weave covers in our range of Thai Triangle Cushions and Thai Yoga Massage Mats - they are all traditional Thai patterns which have a long cultural history.

Most of the patterns originate from the north of Thailand and are associated with individual areas or tribes. Stunning colours and vivid designs are a well noted feature of these traditional craft products, which are hand woven using natural cotton fibres and dyes throughout the manufacture process.

All the woven materials we offer in our range of Thai Triangle Cushions and Massage Mats are hand created, this means that individual rolls of the finished weave often differ slightly in colours hue and pattern. The hand made nature of all our products helps to give each item a measure of individuality and uniqueness not found in modern mass production.

Suedette is a tough material made from cotton (with a touch of rayon) designed to replicate the look and feel of suede – as such it is a non-animal product.

Kapok, which is used to fill all our cushions and massage mats, is an all natural 100% organic, unbleached filling which is derived from the seeds of the massive, tropical kapok tree which grows to 60-70 m tall and has a very substantial trunk up to 3 m in diameter with buttresses. Kapok fibre has a silky floss like texture and is extracted from the seed pods of the tree.

The Kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra) is famous for its impressive root and buttress system which can clearly be seen at the Angkor Wat site in Cambodia - indeed it is well worth visiting the site solely to see these incredible trees engulfing the old temples.

The fibre is light and insulating, very buoyant, resilient and resistant to water making it a great cushion filler. Kapok provides the same type of softness that some synthetic fillings provide, but in an all natural and environmentally friendly manner.

The hulls are the outer case of the buckwheat seed. They are a by-product from the making of buckwheat flour.

Buckwheat seed is the shape of a pyramid and when it is roasted to remove the flour it splits down one of its corners. Then the groats are removed to be milled into flour.

Because buckwheat hulls are pyramid shaped, when they are put in a Zafu meditation cushion case they lay in different directions leaving gaps around each other for air to circulate.

Buckwheat moves to conform to the shape of your body to place your head level with your spine promoting ideal posture.

Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll around the seeds of the cotton plant. The plant is a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, Pakistan, India and Africa. The fiber most often is spun into yarn or thread and used to make a soft, breathable textile, which is the most widely used natural-fiber cloth in clothing today. Cotton is prized for its soft texture; because it's grown from a plant, it is also a "green" product from a natural, renewable source.

Cotton is used to make a number of textile products. These include terrycloth for highly absorbent bath towels and robes; denim for blue jeans; chambray, popularly used in the manufacture of blue work shirts (from which we get the term "blue-collar"); and corduroy, seersucker, and cotton twill. Socks, underwear, and most T-shirts are made from cotton. Bed sheets often are made from cotton. Cotton also is used to make yarn used in crochet and knitting. Fabric also can be made from recycled or recovered cotton that otherwise would be thrown away during the spinning, weaving, or cutting process. While many fabrics are made completely of cotton, some materials blend cotton with other fibers, including rayon and synthetic fibers such as polyester. It can either be used in knitted or woven fabrics, as it can be blended with elastine to make a stretchier thread for knitted fabrics, and apparel such as stretch jeans.

Rayon is a manufactured regenerated cellulose fiber. Because it is produced from naturally occurring polymers, it is neither a truly synthetic fiber nor a natural fiber; it is a semi-synthetic fiber. Rayon is known by the names viscose rayon and art silk in the textile industry. It usually has a high luster quality giving it a bright sheen.

Rayon is a very versatile fiber and has the same comfort properties as natural fibers. It can imitate the feel and texture of silk, wool, cotton and linen. The fibers are easily dyed in a wide range of colors. Rayon fabrics are soft, smooth, cool, comfortable, and highly absorbent, but they do not insulate body heat, making them ideal for use in hot and humid climates.

Rayon is actually better in terms of biodegradability than cotton. Research carried out in Korea established that the ability of rayon materials to repel water had been incorrectly correlated with their speed of degradation.