Until it reaches you, the cork has gone through several processes, its cycle begins through the extraction of the bark from the cork oaks, which is called the stripping, is carried out during the most active phase of the growth of the cork, normally during the months of May to August.
It takes 25 years before a cork oak trunk starts producing cork and is profitable.
The first cork to be removed, the so-called “virgin cork”, the so-called desbóia, which is quite irregular. From the first stripping, it is necessary to wait 9 years for a new cycle to be completed. The second stripping, which is called “secundeira”, gives a more regular structure.
After being harvested and cut in the form of planks, they are transported and placed in piles where they rest for six months, these piles are built in order to prevent microbial contamination and to maximize air circulation.
The next step is cooking, where the boards are boiled in heated water, in order to remove any solid lodged in order to be sterile. They are stacked at rest for a few days until they can be processed.
After this process, the boards are separated by categories, taking into account their transformation objective. Cork that is not used for the production of cork stoppers is used for the manufacture of products for fashion, transport, civil construction, among others, is made from composite agglomerate, constituted by the agglomeration of cork granules, which can also be used mixed with other materials, you get a wide range of products.