Making of coir and its products one of the main village industry of Kerala. Coir is extracted from the protective husk of the Coconut. Coir is used to make a range of floor coverings, door mats, floor Mattings and rugs, crush-proof pile carpets, Flowered Mourzouks etc. The mats come in a range of colours and intricate designs. Besides that rubberised coir, a blend of coir and latex, is also used to make mattresses and cushioning. The husks separated from the nuts, are retted in lagoons upto ten months. The retted husks are then beaten with wooden mallets manually to produce the golden fibre. The fibre is later spun into yarn on traditional spinning wheels called "Ratts", ready for dyeing and weaving into myriad shades of floor coverings. Some of the main centres for coir products are Alleppey, Kollam and Calicut. The products are exported on a large scale to other countries.
