Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is Medicinal Cloth?
2. How is Medicinal Cloth related to Ayurveda?
3. Is Medicinal Cloth an ancient tradition or a new technique?
4. Why should I buy Medicinal Cloth products?
5. Which medical conditions can Medicinal Cloth help improve?
6. Does Medicinal Cloth really work?
7. How does it work?
8. Are you the only manufacturers of Medicinal Cloth?
9. What kinds of products do you manufacture?
10. Are all textiles produced by your handloom weavers Medicinal Cloth?
11. Are all Medicinal Cloth textiles hand loomed?
12. Which herbs are most commonly used for Medicinal Cloth?
13. Where do the herbs come from?
14. Where can I buy Medicinal Cloth products?
15. Are Medicinal Cloth products expensive?
16. How can I best take care of my Medicinal Cloth product?
17. How long does it take before the cloth looses its ayurvedic effect?
18. Can I get an allergic reaction to Medicinal Cloth?
19. How long does it take to handloom a sari? A bed sheet?
20. What is the Internal Learning System (ILS)?
21. What is the average wage of your weavers?

1. What is Medicinal Cloth?
   Medicinal Cloth is an ancient technique of dyeing textiles in medicinal herbs. HLWDS has revived this tradition and uses medicinal herb dyes for its hand loomed textiles. When exposed to skin, the herbs are absorbed into the body and may function as an means of providing ayurvedic treatment for a broad range of diseases including diabetes, skin infections, asthma, arthritis, and hypertension. It is also known to strengthen the immune system. Experimental research conducted by Ayurveda College in Trivandrum, Kerala confirms that Medicinal Cloth may help treat skin diseases, arthritis, and lower blood pressure. Medicinal Cloth garments are 100 percent organic, completely free of synthetic chemicals and toxic irritants, and biodegradable. For more information, see our page on Medicinal Cloth.
2. How is Medicinal Cloth related to Ayurveda?
   
   Medicinal Cloth is a means practising traditional ayurvedic medicine. Medicinal Cloth is ayurvedic treatment through skin exposure to fabrics dyed in medicinal herb dyes.These cloths are thus a medium for avurvedic treatment as the skin recieved the medicinal benefits of these herbs through the exposure to clothing, bedding, or coir mats.
   
3. Is Medicinal Cloth an ancient tradition or a new technique?
   
   Medicinal Cloth is an ancient tradition that HLWDS has revived. Medicinal Cloth was practiced some 5000 years ago in the Kerala region but was discontinued. Our ancestors Sir C.R Ayyappan Vaidyan, Neelakandan Vaidyan and Damodaran Vaidyan revived this tradition and practiced Medicinal Cloth in Kerala during the past 60 years. HLWDS has made it our mission to continue this tradition in order to create a strong market for our Kerala handloom weavers.
   
4. Why should I buy Medicinal Cloth products?
   
   Medicinal Cloth may help treat a broad range of diseases such as skin infections, diabetes, eczema, psoriasis, hypertension, high blood pressure, asthma, arthritis, rheumatism, and insomnia. It can also relieve general body aches, stimulate weight loss, and strengthen the immune system. Medicinal Cloth can further be used as an energy booster, mood enhancer, for overall well-being, calming, and blood purification and cooling. Medicinal Cloth garments are a hundred percent natural and manufactured from organic materials, and thus biodegradable. By purchasing Medicinal Cloth products, you are supporting an environmentally-friendly alternative to synthetic fabrics and synthetic dyes. A strong Medicinal Cloth market will help secure the livelihoods of local Indian farmers, weavers, and tribes. Medicinal Cloth production also encourages cultivation and conservation of medicinal plant biodiversity. By supporting HLWDS you further empower us to expand our important role as a livelihoods and women empowerment organization and advocate for the poor.
   
5. Which medical conditions can Medicinal Cloth help improve?
   
   Medicinal Cloth may help treat a broad range of diseases such as skin infections, diabetes, eczema, psoriasis, hypertension, high blood pressure, asthma, arthritis, insomnia, and rheumatism. It is also used to relieve general body aches, stimulate weight loss, and strengthen the immune system. Medicinal Cloth can further be used as an energy booster, mood enhancer, for digestion, overall well-being, calming of the body, and for blood purification and cooling.
   
6. Does Medicinal Cloth really work?
   
   A clinical trial initiated by the Ministry of Health at the Government Ayurveda College in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, suggest that Medicinal Cloth does indeed work. For the study, patients suffering from rheumatism, allergy, hypertension, diabetes, psoriasis and other skin ailments were exposed to Medicinal Cloth for 30 days through clothing, bed linens, and mattresses dyed in medicinal herbs. Walls, floors, and ceilings in the subjects’ room were lined with Medicinal Cloth coir mats. According to Dr. Vishwanathan, the former Dean of the Drug Research Department at Ayurveda College, the response was “remarkably good,” especially in the cases of arthritis and skin ailments. Convinced by these results, the Government of Kerala has granted the college 250,000 dollars for further development of Medicinal Cloth dyes.
   
7. How does it work?
   
   As the body’s largest organ, the skin functions as a protective barrier but also as a conduit for outside substances to enter the body. In the same way the skin may absorb environmental toxins and chemicals from conventional clothing, it has the ability to absorb herbs found in our natural dyes. These herbs release their medicinal qualities in the body and strengthen the skin’s ability to block and resist harmful substances.
   
8. Are you the only manufacturers of Medicinal Cloth?
   
   Presently, we are the only manufacturers of Medicinal Cloth.
   
9. What kinds of products do you manufacture?
   
   We produce Medicinal Cloth bed sheets and shawls for export. We also manufacture local Kerala garments such as saris, churidar materials, shirts, and dhotis as well as window curtains, towels, and coir mats. Most of our garments are hand loomed from cotton, although we also produce cloth from wool, jute, and silk. Upon request we may produce Medicinal Cloth mattresses and pillows.
   
10. Are all the textiles that you manufacture Medicinal Cloth?
    
    All of our exported products are Medicinal Cloth. For sale domestically, we produce textiles both with and without ayurvedic qualities.
    
11. Are all your textiles hand loomed and organic?
    
    All our Medicinal Cloth products are handloomed and 100 percent organic. Our non-Medicinal Cloth products are all handloomed but some may not be 100 percent organic.
12. Which herbs are most commonly used for Medicinal Cloth?
    
    For colouring purposes, turmeric (haldi) and saffron (kesar) are commonly used to bring out a yellow colour, as are sandalwood and arubia to produce a red colour. The main herbs used in dye for treatment of arthritis are curry leaves and apocynceae. To treat skin diseases, turmeric, neem and sandalwood are used. Dyes to treat diabetes contain mimosa pudica (touch-me-not), cumin seeds, champa flower and shoe flower (hudahal).
13. Where do the herbs come from?
    
    90 percent of the herbs we use in our dyes are purchased at a fair price from local tribes who gather wild herbs grown in Kerala’s rich forests. The remainder of the herbs (with the exception of one) are from other parts of India.
    
14. Where can I buy Medicinal Cloth products?
    
    Although we expect to be distributing to all Indian states within five years, we currently only distribute Medicinal Cloth to retailers in Kerala, Rajastan, Delhi, Madras, and Calcutta. We also export Medicinal Cloth to the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Italy, France, and Brazil. A list of our distributors can be found at our Shop page.
    
15. Are Medicinal Cloth products expensive?
    
    Prices vary according to distributor and country of purchase. Please contact your local distributor for price information. A list of our current distributors can be found at our Shop page.
    
16. How can I best take care of my Medicinal Cloth products?
    
    We recommend using organic soap for washing Medicinal Cloth cloth. Wash separately with bleach-free detergent. For machine wash, use gentle cycle. The cloth can be ironed with a warm iron; steam ironing is ideal. Iron to shape and dry in shade.
    
17. How long does it take before the cloth looses its ayurvedic effect?
    
    The cloth does not loose its effect even after constant use because the medicinal dyes are absorbed into the yarn itself. The yarn is first dipped in the herbal dyes and the finished fabric is dipped again.
    
18. Can I get an allergic reaction to Medicinal Cloth?
    
    At present, we have not received any reports of allergic reactions to Medicinal Cloth.
    
19. How long does it take to handloom a sari? A bed sheet?
    
    A sari takes about 16 hours to make using the traditional handloom method. A bed sheet takes about four hours.
    
20. What is the Internal Learning System (ILS)?
    
    ILS is a participatory impact assessment and planning system developed by Dr. Helzi Noponen. It is primarily designed to meet the learning needs of program participants. The system is an empowering tool for poor, illiterate participants and village groups to track and analyze change in their lives and to use the understanding to alter their strategies as they participate in the economy and interact with actors and institutions in the wider community. HLWDS further uses the ILS to gather information of its participants’ progress and assess impact and evaluate its programs. (For more information about ILS, go to http://www.enterprise-impact.org.uk/pdf/Noponen.pdf).
    
21. What is the average wage of your weavers?
    
    The average daily wage rate of a weaver is Rs. 70 (a little less than $2). HLWDS members can make up to Rs. 140 a day, more than twice the average wage of other weavers.