Bark Cloth goes BARKTEX®
BARKTEX® is made from the traditionally manufactured bark cloth.
Through a variety of textile, wood, leather and polymer technology, it undergoes a metamorphosis that makes it even more beautiful (BARKTEX®_aesthetics) and/or gives it additional functions (BARKTEX®_functionals).
Many of these processes take place in our manufactory in Uganda – using additives which are strictly either self-made or produced in Germany. Thus, a maximum value is generated on the spot and income is generated in a structurally weak region. We can therefore offer the extremely labor-intensive semi-finished products at a fair price-performance ratio for everyone involved: the customers, the employees and ourselves.
Some of the products are finished in Germany either by commission processing or in our studio. This Ugandan-German double-track approach creates flexibility and reliability. Most of the BARKTEX® specialties are permanently available from our warehouse in Germany. Others are tailor-made according to your requirements.
Discover a unique material
Each piece is an exquisitely handcrafted individual
Designers and architects value the expressive character, unique texture and sensual tactility of the bark cloth tree bark fleece. Depending on lighting conditions, angle of viewing, finishing, and temperament of its producer the soft, moldable cloth changes from the supple, but robust charm of leather to the translucent and graceful lightness of filmy fleeces.
Pure and real, thousands of years old, though ahead of its time, it concentrates style and design down to the bare essentials. For whichever application, you are sure to use a unique masterpiece.
“The allure of this exceptional material comes from its inimitable structure and the fascinating game played between ancient authenticity and state-of-the-art finishes and uses… It is ideal to serve for products and architectural projects where individuality plays a central role”
Humberto Campana
Fascination of nature
Bark Cloth tree bark fleece, a textile without any additives.
Exactly one cloth is created from the bark of one tree. The harvesting of the bark and its subsequent processing are carried out exclusively by handwork. Only if trained hands were at work during harvest and processing, can we offer nature in perfection. For not everyone is master of the great art of tree peeling and the ancient, traditionally handed down knowledge of bark processing.
In contrast to most other nature-based solutions available on market, this so-called monomaterial does not contain any binders, dyes or other additives. It contains the bark fiber only, which is chemically broken down to cellulose, hemicellulose, tannins and traces of minerals.
On the production side, each square meter of Bark Cloth requires less than one liter of water. Since it is produced with muscle power only, and since the basic metabolic rate of a hard working man is only slightly higher than the metabolic rate of a man, resting lazy in a hammock, its production is CO2 – neutral. And if the natural CO2 – binding effect of Mutuba trees is included in the carbon footprint, Bark Cloth manufacturing is even CO2 – positive. No other textile offers such a favorable eco balance.
Product details
| Size: | approx. 2000 x 3000 mm, special sizes available |
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| Thickness: | 0,3 – 3,5 mm |
| Material: | bark cloth |
| Surfaces: | through a variety of textile, wood, leather and polymer technology, the material undergoes a metamorphosis |
| Characteristics: | translucent, heat resistant up to 200 ºC, three-dimensionally deformable |
Sustainability criteria
| Country of origin: | Uganda |
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| Origin of materials: | Uganda |
| Function: | healthy, low-emission, natural, circular ability, CO2 neutral, suitable for allergy sufferers |
| Certificates: | Bark Cloth® eco is the only worldwide certified Bark Cloth® from controlled organic cultivation (EU Standard 2092/91). The production takes place according to the guidelines of the ILO (International Labor Organization) and SA 8000. Standards for Bark Cloth® production are controlled through an elaborate certification process by a German IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements)-accredited certification company. |
| Manufacturing processes: | since 1990 with organic farmers monomaterial without any binders, dyes or other additives, less than 1 l/sqm water usage, CO2 neutral, BarkTex: using additives which are strictly either self-made or produced in Germany, income is generated in a structurally weak region, fair price-performance ratio |
| Collaborations: | with reknown universities and research institutions, such as Design Academy Eindhoven, London Metropolitan University, Parsons New York, NASA, ESDI Rio de Janeiro, Fraunhofer, Steinbeis or the German Aerospace Centre |
