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Posted by Design Studio
25 March 2025Written by Sophie Fields, PhD Student @ University of Leeds
Project: All-Cellulose Composite with: UaL, UoL, Salt Fabrics & Annas Anam
Heading out of the city
On Thursday 20th March, Dr Helen Paine (UAL), Dr Raquel Prado (Ananas Anam), June Swindell (salt.) and I visited Ogam Mill in Morley, just outside of Leeds. We are working to create All Cellulose Composites (ACCs) using woven cloth made from Piñayarn provided by Ananas Anam. It was a lovely sunny day to head out of the city to visit Richard at Ogam mill. It’s really great to have June and Richard on board with this project as they have collaborated together previously, and their combined expertise has been central in responding to the project brief.
Reconnecting with weaving technologies
My background is within textiles (specialising in printing for my undergraduate degree) and I have now transitioned into the School of Design & School of Physics and Astrophysics at Leeds University for my PhD. This visit was an amazing opportunity to reconnect with weaving technologies and see firsthand Piñayarn being transformed into fabrics. Piñayarn is made from pineapple leaf fibres, which are a by-product of the pineapple harvest and are often burned releasing CO2 into the atmosphere.
Seeing the process in action
Richard gave us a tour of the mill and showed us the different machines used for the weaving process. We first saw the warping machine, which winds the yarns on in multiples of 7m before being transferred to the beam and placed onto the loom. Our large herringbone design was on the loom being woven. We got to see the loom in action whilst hearing and smelling the beautiful mechanics of the machinery.
Sharing progress with the project
I had some small composite sample trials from the project that I was able to share with Helen, June, Raquel and also Richard, who had not seen these materials before. These had been dyed blue using a reactive dye within the School of Design and retained the colour well following the ionic liquid and washing processes. We discussed the next batch of fabrics that will be woven, and the next steps with composite development; including, larger pieces and 3D shapes. Some fabrics will be sent to Ananas Anam for testing and some will be sent to University of the Arts London, for a student design project.
Connecting with local heritage
Following our tour, Helen, Raquel, June and I headed back into Leeds, reflecting on the conversations we’d had at the mill and what we are planning to achieve next. It was great to see how these traditional weaving techniques are still in use and are at the forefront of greener, local and more sustainable textiles. Some may consider this type of weaving inefficient or outdated, but for us, it was clear that these skills and heritage, particularly in Yorkshire, need protecting. Sadly, many small-scale family run mills have closed over the past 10 years. Combining this weaving expertise and textiles history with our modern soft matter physics concepts and experiments is incredibly exciting and I can’t wait to see further rounds of composite development later on in the project.
Inspired for next steps
Once we are happy with a set of variables we have been trialing to date, I will create some larger materials, which will be sent to Ananas Anam for testing. These results should demonstrate the exceptional qualities of cellulose when compared to plastic based alternatives. Potential applications for the ACCs include within the automotive and interiors sectors. Thank you to Helen, June, Raquel, Richard and my supervisor Mike for all of your help to date and after our trip, I’m feeling ever more inspired to develop these ideas with the Future Fibres Network.
