Cable and Cotton ‘Factory’ – Thailand
December 30th, 2009
Taken from the Cable & Cotton Blog site
http://cableandcotton.co.uk/2009/12/cable-and-cotton-factory-thailand/
“I visited our ball making factory in November to check that everything was running OK and took a few videos of the ball making process which I will upload at some point soon. It really is quite incredible how they are made.
The ‘factory’ itself is in a remote region of central Thailand and was set up with help from the Thai government which had a programme to help destitute women find work. So they helped set up the business on an estate which is surrounded by rubber trees and locus plants. The women there work in the fresh air and are highly skilled at making the cotton balls and have a good income from the business. There is a school for the children of the workers and Cable and Cotton is helping to equip it.
The rubber which holds the balls in shape comes straight from the rubber trees on the estate.
The process of making each ball is quite arduous – a balloon is blown up to the correct shape and then cotton is weaved through a container with natural gum in it onto the ball. When the ball is covered it is hung up to dry by clothes-type pegs. Finally the balloon is popped and pulled out through the hole. So this really is a handicraft product!
Here is a photo of the ‘factory’ in Thailand:
Buy them at
http://www.thecrackedpot.co.uk/User/ProductList.aspx?EventId=4
