Food safe and texas weather rope

[txdorque]

I'm looking at doing some vertical gardening, some of which would involve rope/cord coming in contact with soil that may have food in it. It would be involved in suspending/supporting containers

In terms of no chemical leach, withstanding texas heat and summer UV exposure, and not rotting if it doesn't dry out quickly enough, and and and

I have read too many mixed posts about sisal and manila, both being super and resistent and perfect for outdoors.and food, but they're both biodegradable and will deteriorate in uv...

Help? Sisal, manila, promanila, polyester? How do i make sense of conflicting information?

Please and thank you!

 

[Chuck]

Study? Research? Asking pertinent questions? I can tell you this. Anything organic like sisal or manila will degrade, decompose faster than inorganic. I can also say that the smaller diameter a product is the faster it will degrade. Also , the looser the twist of rope or cord is the faster it decomposes. The following link may be of help

Rope materials: a beginner's guide - RopesDirect

Not sure which type of rope is right for you? Discover the different rope materials available and their properties, with expert advice from RopesDirect.

www.ropesdirect.co.uk

 

[txdorque]

That's the exact sort of conflicting information that has me confused

"Not only are they inherently strong, they’re resilient to wear and tear and resistant to sunlight. They demonstrate little to no stretching. Thanks to their rough texture, they have excellent knot-ability. And the best bit? They’re 100% sustainable, biodegradable and compostable"

 

[Chuck]

That's the exact sort of conflicting information that has me confused

"Not only are they inherently strong, they’re resilient to wear and tear and resistant to sunlight. They demonstrate little to no stretching. Thanks to their rough texture, they have excellent knot-ability. And the best bit? They’re 100% sustainable, biodegradable and compostable"

So what is conflicting? Are you confused as to which one to use? Which one to use depends on what it is used for and how it is used. You said it would come into contact with soil that has food in it. What has food in soil got to do with a rope? Are you worried about a rope touching food that you will eat? If so, don't. The rope will not rub off on the food or soak into it or anything else. If you are going to hang containers full of soil and are worried about it stretching all rope, with the exception of dacron, will stretch slightly, especially if it gets wet. So just what is your question?

 

[txdorque]

As i mentioned in my OP, the issue with synthetic is concern over chemical leaching in soil (like using non-foodgrade pvc)

Conflicting:
- resiliant to wear, tear, sunlight
- biodegradable/compostable


So: rope that won't leach, can withstand the uv and weather

 

[Chuck]

As i mentioned in my OP, the issue with synthetic is concern over chemical leaching in soil (like using non-foodgrade pvc)

Conflicting:
- resiliant to wear, tear, sunlight
- biodegradable/compostable


So: rope that won't leach, can withstand the uv and weather

The absolute best rope I have ever seen is dacron/polyester parachute cord I brought home from when I was in the military 55+ years ago. That rope has been outside in the weather the entire time and as far as I can tell has not changed a bit. If you can still obtain it I do not know. Of todays off the shelf rope what you do not want is manilla, hemp, sisal or polypropolene for the reasons you stated. Polyester/dacron is, I believe, what you need. Nylon will work but is more affected by UV than the dacron and it stretches quite a bit.