Milkweed (Asclepias) fiber and cotton fiber sorbed
significantly higher amounts of crude oil than poly-
propylene fiber and polypropylene web from the surface
of an artificial sea water bath containing crude oil and from
a crude oil bath. Milkweed sorbed approximately 40 g of
crude oil/g of fiber at room temperature. The oil sorption
capacity of kenaf core material was comparable with that
of polypropylene web with high-viscosity Bunker C oil.
Only a slight variation was observed in the oil sorption of
the natural fiber sorbent by Soxhlet extraction and
water-soaking treatments before the sorption process.
However, alkali-scouring treatment significantly reduced
the oil sorption capacity of milkweed and cotton fiber. It
was shown that with the aid of suitable mechanical re-
trieval equipment, sorbed crude oil can be recovered from
milkweed and cotton so the sorbents can be recycled
several times for oil spill cleanup. The results suggested
that a total or partial substitution of commercial synthetic
oil sorbents by natural sorbent materials could be bene-
ficial in the oil spill cleanup operation by improving the
efficiency of oil sorption and by incorporating other ad-
vantages such as biodegradability.