What is flax and what was it used for around WW1 in the UK?

Answer 1

Nimbus is wrong, flax has nothing to do with hemp.
Flax makes Linen.
It is also the plant from which Linseed, for oil comes.
Different varieties are used for the two crops. Long stalked strong fibre ones for flax, short stalked large seed for linseed-oil.

Answer 2

Flax is a plant which produces the flax fibre used for making linen textiles.

Flax is a very strong natural fibre which can also be used for making webbing, matting and paper as well as fabric.

Webbing is strong straps which can be used for military uses like carrying weapons, attaching loads inside aeroplanes or for parachute straps. So this may have been one of the WW1 uses.

Answer 3

Are you sure you mean Flax? Your reference to WW1 indicates that you may mean Flack. Which is Anti Aircraft shell fire used to bring down aircraft.

Answer 4

Flax is a type of plant and traditionally in Ireland it was used to make linen, and ropes.

Answer 5

flax is used to make linen, which they used for the wings of fighter aircraft in ww1.

Answer 6

Flax is grown both for seed and for fibre. Various parts of the plant have been used to make fabric, dye, paper, medicines, fishing nets and soap. It is also grown as an ornamental plant in gardens, as flax is one of the few plant species that is capable of producing truly blue flowers (most "blue" flowers are really shades of purple), although not all flax varieties produce blue flowers.

The seeds produce a vegetable oil known as linseed oil or flaxseed oil. It is one of the oldest commercial oils and solvent-processed flax seed oil has been used for centuries as a drying oil in painting and varnishing. The seeds are edible, and cold pressed linseed oil is suitable for human consumption. Flax seeds come in two basic varieties; brown and yellow (also referred to as golden). Although brown flax can be consumed and has been for thousands of years, it is better known as an ingredient in paints, fibre and cattle feed. Brown and yellow flax have similar nutritional values and equal amounts of short-chain omega-3 fatty acids. The exception is a type of yellow flax called solin which is very low in omega-3 and has a completely different oil profile.

A North Dakota State University research project led to the creation of a new variety of the yellow flax seed called "Omega". This new variety was created primarily as a food source and has a more pleasant nutty-buttery flavour than the brown variety and retains a comparable level of the beneficial Omega-3 oil.

Flax fibres are amongst the oldest fibre crops in the world. The use of flax for the production of linen goes back 5000 years. Pictures on tombs and temple walls at Thebes depict flowering flax plants. The use of flax fibre in the manufacturing of cloth in northern Europe dates back to pre-Roman times. In North America, flax was introduced by the Pilgrim fathers. Currently most flax produced in the USA and Canada are seed flax types for the production of linseed oil or flaxseeds for human nutrition.
Flax fibre is extracted from the bast or skin of the stem of flax plant. Flax fibre is soft, lustrous and flexible. It is stronger than cotton fibre but less elastic. The best grades are used for linen fabrics such as damasks, lace and sheeting. Coarser grades are used for the manufacturing of twine and rope. Flax fibre is also a raw material for the high-quality paper industry for the use of printed banknotes and rolling paper for cigarettes.

Answer 7

it was used to make cloth it is still used by plumbers to seal joints
it comes in hanks i use it all the time as i have been a plumber of 30 years it is grown in ireland in what is known as flax holes

Answer 8

I think Leslie C is confused with "flux" which IS used in plumbing to promote flow of the sealing compound around the joints.
Flax on the other hand is a plant based cloth.

Answer 9

Is that not the capacitor out of the back to the future films lol......gotta be the best answer.

Answer 10

made from hemp and used in rope making