After tumbling, the cut stalks are put in a pile, ready for the next step:

 Tuxying.

Tuxying is the process of extracting the fiber from the leaf sheaths.

 A specially-made tuxying knife is used to make an

 incision through the inner and middle layer of each sheath,

 close to the base or butt end to remove the outer layer.

The strips, or “tuxies”, obtained from this process are then put through a

cleaning process, called stripping, in which all

pulpy material is scraped off and the strands of fiber are freed.

 In the Philippines, the two common stripping methods in use are

hand-stripping and spindle stripping.

Hand-stripping (hagotan) is a simple yet laborious method. The strip, or tuxy, is inserted between a block and the stripping knife, then pulled with force

from the tip end of the tuxy to separate the fiber from any waste.

The spindle stripping method involves winding the fibers around a

tapered-shaped spindle which is kept in motion by an electric motor or

an engine. A spindle stripped fiber tends to be whiter and more lustrous than a corresponding grade of hand stripped fiber.

The abaca fibers are then left out to dry naturally in the sun.