Sabai Grass Storage Baskets

Details

Coiled baskets in sabai grass, Eulaliopsis binata, from Mayurbhanj in Odisha, bound with cotton thread. Natural-look storage is where plastic hides best, because polypropylene raffia photographs exactly like grass, costs a fraction, never varies and never moulds, and once it is coiled and dyed almost nobody can tell by hand. The second substitution is inside: a basket described as grass bound with cotton is very often bound with nylon thread, which is stronger and cheaper and is the part that actually holds the basket together. Both are settled by putting a fibre under a microscope, which is what the report does. The third is dye, because these are sold to hold clothes and children's things, and a poorly fixed dye on a natural fibre transfers onto whatever sits in it.

• Eulaliopsis binata sabai grass, identified by microscopy, no polypropylene and no plastic raffia
• Bound with cotton thread throughout, not nylon, confirmed on the same fibre report
• Dyes azo-screened below 30 mg per kg on the 24 restricted aromatic amines
• Dried below 12 percent moisture before weaving and at packing, which is what keeps it from moulding in transit
• Coiled construction with a reinforced base coil, so the bottom does not sag out under load
• Undyed grass on the natural version, with no bleach and no varnish
• Rated 6 kg for the small, 10 kg for the medium and 15 kg for the large, which is the honest range for a coiled grass basket. It is for textiles, toys and light household things rather than books or tools
• Natural grass will mould in a damp bathroom. Keep it dry, and if it does get wet, air it until it is dry through. Each is woven by hand, so diameters vary by about a centimetre and the undyed colour shifts between harvests.