NEW barkcloth

[roberta351]

I am harvesting bark from tree's and see there is an interest in old barkcloth. Is there any interest in buying new barkcloth? 

[maxine*j]

It's a long way from bark to barkcloth, so you have your work cut out for you.  And you can't make barkcloth from small bark scraps like that or from that type of bark, unless you know something I don't. 

Let me check my calendar to see if I fell into a deep sleep and today is really April 1.

[roberta351]

Yes, processing is different for bark uses. I had just been processing different bark for basket making.  I only included a picture to show that I was really talking about bark and not a cotton fabric. 

[maxine*j]

Okay.

I suppose if you have access to the right bark(s) and have a way to efficiently process it into smallish pieces for people to buy for arts and crafts projects (scrapbooking, collage, mixed media, and the like), you might be onto something. 

The expense in effort, time, and money that would be involved in producing larger pieces would, I should think, preclude making them for sale on eBay.

Do you have pictures of any barkcloth you've made so far? 

[doortek]

You are sampling a very small group in these forums. Since eBay is a marketplace that many use for advertisement, market tests, etc., choose a free listing with no selling fees as many recieve in their email and yes, test the market from potentially millions of viewers.

That said; typically, you would have to first create what you are selling, but I suppose you could cancel any potential bids and close auction early as "no longer available" ... which happens to many auctions from pawn shops, car dealers, etc. that we have bid on. With "Buy it now" you could wind up with a negative for cancelling. Regardless, only market testing will tell if there is any viable interest and this could be the platform to do it.

[roberta351]

There are many types of bark used to make "barkcloth".  Of the ones that are only pounded out the pounding will take a piece that is only ten inches wide and increase that ten times. The length does not generally increase by much. Some barkcloth is actually a few layers that are beaten together. Then there is also a form of it that is woven.