Natural or synthetic rope?
Natural ropes are made from plants. Examples include flax, sisal, jute, cotton, raffia, and coco. They are pleasant to work with and are often used for decorative and hobby purposes. Thanks to their biodegradability, they have numerous outdoor and garden applications, preventing waste and microplastics from entering the environment. They are therefore ideal as twine for tying plants, binding branches, and so on. The tensile strength of natural fibers is usually lower than that of synthetic fibers. However, the advantage of natural fibers is that the rope does not show visible signs of reduced tensile strength or wear.
A synthetic rope is the result of a chemical process. Through extrusion, plastic granules are converted into film or filaments. The subsequent treatments determine its properties and quality. Examples include polyamide, polypropylene, polyester, polyethylene, and synthetic flax. Synthetic ropes are not biodegradable, but they do possess a wide range of other properties that natural ropes lack. For example, they are significantly stronger, moisture-resistant (rot-resistant), and resistant to acids and/or bases.
