Wool Cloth Finishing, Steps 1-2

On the second tour, we learned about how cloth was finished by felting techniques using water-powered machines. There are three steps.

Step one: The material is basted together into a loop, and put through a Fulling machine. The machine soaks the cloth in water with a small amount of soap (they used Fuller's earth in the old days), and then pounds it. This shrinks, softens, and loosens the fibers, and the cloth becomes thicker.

Step 2: After the cloth is dry, the nap is raised using dried plants called teasels. It used to be done by hand, of course. Manufacturers have not found or invented anything better than the dried plant, so they are still used today.Read more