Abstract Following article highlights the significance of such an indispensable process in altering plant fibre features as drying, providing a reader with widespread information considering the consequences of wetting-drying cycles influence on plant fibre properties, empathising the role of drying process in improving cellulose reactivity and performance. This review answers the question how to modify natural fibres efficiently while reducing the use of harmful chemicals which is of a high importance considering, e.g., polymer composite applications. Nowadays, natural additives are commonly only surface modified in order to improve the interface properties by increasing the adhesion between the polymer matrix and the filler. For that reason, various chemical treatments are employed so as to meet the industry expectations and incorporate a partially natural composite of a high performance which complies with the principles of sustainable development. Such plant fibre reinforced polymer bio-materials may contribute to a solid-waste minimization and environmental pollution abatement as they are more prone to degradation processes. On the basis of gathered data, it may be certainly claimed that highly favourable cellulose modification consists not only of chemical treatment but also of an optimized drying processes performed under established conditions and with an exact number of wetting-drying cycles. Moreover, the problem of nanofibrillated cellulose aggregation during the drying process is mentioned and few methods that could possibly prevent this phenomenon are described.