Milkweed

[zooshooter]

Has anyone tried a 50/50 mix of milkweed floss and down? I read a technical paper on the feasibility of using milkweed and the conclusion was that a 50/50 mix was nearly identical to 100% down in terms of insulation properties. There are a whole bunch of milkweed plants around here so I might try it out.

[Lost_Biker]

Interesting. As long as they're well dried out, I can't see why not. I unfortunately don't know what the equivalent down fill would be. Ounce for ounce? Worth investigating I think.
Thanks for posting about this

Edit - here's an interesting article I found about milkweed as an insulation: http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=77957

[zooshooter]

Interesting. As long as they're well dried out, I can't see why not. I unfortunately don't know what the equivalent down fill would be. Ounce for ounce? Worth investigating I think.
Thanks for posting about this

Edit - here's an interesting article I found about milkweed as an insulation: http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=77957

That's the thread that initially got me lookin around. Here's the technical paper I read: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/vi...extiles_facpub

Their methodology was a per unit weight basis for comparing down, milkweed, and the 50/50 mix.

[Lost_Biker]

That's the thread that initially got me lookin around. Here's the technical paper I read: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/vi...extiles_facpub

Thanks for that, zooshooter. Here's another article : http://www.survival-spot.com/surviva...rm-insulation/

I'm very interested in this stuff - now the big question is where to get enough of it to test? I've not seen any milkweed in the mid-west. Down South, yes. Any suppliers you know of?

[zooshooter]

Thanks for that, zooshooter. Here's another article : http://www.survival-spot.com/surviva...rm-insulation/

I'm very interested in this stuff - now the big question is where to get enough of it to test? I've not seen any milkweed in the mid-west. Down South, yes. Any suppliers you know of?

I'm not seeing any of the floss specifically for sale, but you might try here: http://buymilkweed.com/index.html under the "contact us". That's the new name of the same company that provided the milkweed for the group that did the technical paper. Granted, that paper was put out in 1991.

[zooshooter]

I can tell you where milkweed likes to grow if that helps any. We have a lot of it growing around train tracks near Chicago and anywhere that's kinda swampy but doesn't necessarily have standing water. If you find cattails you can probably find milkweed nearby. I'm taking down locations where I see it growing now for future harvesting. I'll probably have more than enough to send you some if you'd like.

[zooshooter]

Wait one! Hey, out here on the West Coast (from Alaska to Mexico) we have the Monarch Butterfly, which live off of milkweed. I've seen a six-foot plant devoured almost instantly, locust-like, by a swarm. So I'd have to ask some careful questions before I used anything milkweedy.

It's actually just the caterpillar that eats the milkweed, and they don't eat the milkweed seeds, pods, or floss that I would be collecting. Furthermore, the pods are only suitable for collecting after Monarch caterpillars go into their chrysalis. No harm would come to the butterflies or their pupae if correct gathering methods are followed. In the SurvivalistBoard thread that Lost Biker linked, they also very strongly suggest that you not collect all the pods from any single plant, leaving some of the seeds for future season growths. They also strongly suggest that if you find that the seeds in your milkweed pods are viable, that you spread them in the area where you collected to give them a chance to sprout as well....or sprout them yourself as the plants are edible.

I do appreciate your concern for the plants and the animals that feed on them. It's not an idle idea that I'm posting. I've been thinking about this for a little over a year but only recently found the technical paper that indicated that the floss can be desirable as an insulator.

[Walking Bear]

I remember when the milkweed research was going on in Nebraska. Milkweed was a problem in lots of cropland and and was a good healthy weed. Then they tried to grow fields of just milkweed. Then they had lots of problems with insects and disease of the milkweed.

[gmcttr]

...I've not seen any milkweed in the mid-west...

You haven't looked hard enough. There was quite a bit on land I used to own in Bartholomew Co.

[Lost_Biker]

You haven't looked hard enough. There was quite a bit on land I used to own in Bartholomew Co.

Hmmm - maybe around some of the smaller lakes and ponds. I know where lots of cattails grow. While I've never seen the pods on hikes and bikes around Indiana, I'll look at stuff a bit more closely. Thanks!