What is cork?

Korkeiche2


Care instructions for corK

Cork is a natural raw material that Portugal has to offer in spades. Traditinally, this raw material was mainly used for the famous Portuguese wine and Port wine or as flooring material. But cork has so much more to offer! Cork can be processed in panels, just like fabric, while the material is breathable and water-resistant and offers a high level of wearing comfort.The new trend is to use this raw material as a wholesome substitute for leather which is very welcomed by the leather-critics. The processing options are numerous which makes it possible for bags, jewelry, jackets, umbrellas, ties, postcards and lots of other fascinating products to be manufactured from this renewable material. Because cork can also easily be dyed, the creativity and creative possibilities are almost limitless.Cork is the bark of the Cork Oak tree, a very unique tree with an impressively long lifespan and tremendous regenerative capacity. An average Cork Oak can be up to 200 years old which allows the tree to shed its bark up to 16 times in an interval of 9-12 years. Cork Oak forests (Montados) cover the surface of almost 2.2 million hectare (roughly 5436318 acres) in the western Mediterranean region. These trees are very characteristic for this region and constitute one of the best examples for the development of a multifunctional forest.

A surprising fact is that the Cork Oak increases its ability to absorb CO2 gases during the natural regenerative process- a shed Cork Oak absorbs up to 5 times as much CO2 than the unshed tree. The ability to absorb the carbon dioxide is transferred to the cork products that we sell, they continue to absorb CO2. Cork is 100% natural, recyclable and reusable.