Cork?
Cork fabric, skin cork, or cork leather (as some call it ) is a truly beautiful gift from nature.
Cork is:
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Smooth, soft, and supple in your hands
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Light weight
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Mostly impervious to water
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Fire resistant
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Hypoallergenic
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Scratch resistant
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Very easy to clean or disinfect
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Beautiful
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Will not absorb smells
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Will not allow fungal growth
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Good for the environment
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100% natural, no two bags will ever be exactly the same.
If you are interested in how the products are made, please read on!
harvesting
Cork oak trees are harvested manually with axes between May and July about every 9 years. The harvested material is stacked and then transported to small factories where it is graded for use as bottle stoppers, gaskets, cork fabric, and many other products. The offcuts and extra material are made into items such as cork boards for a zero-waste process.
Making the Fabric
Cork oak trees are not treated with chemicals such as pesticides or fungicides. At the factory, the cork is treated with steam or boiled in clean water. This kills any fungus or bacteria and softens the bark enough to be flattened and sliced. Cork fabric comes from the densest layer, the middle one. The 0.3-0.4mm layers are affixed to a backing material. At Resonance Cork we only allow all-natural backing materials like cotton, bamboo, or hemp. Interestingly, the resin naturally present in the cork is all that is needed to permanently adhere to the backing material.
Making the Products
The cork fabric is dyed with vegetable dyes, cut, sewn, and molded into bags, wallets, straps, belts, and all sorts of other products. This is how our Hilo tote is made. Every cut, shaping, stitch, and grommet is done by hand
