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cloth-fulling-msg - 7/10/17

 

Fulling of cloth. Period and Modern methods.

 

NOTE: See also the files: felting-msg, piled-fabrics-msg, velvet-msg, weavng-sizing-msg, wool-hist-msg, Worstd-v-Woln-art, textiles-msg, oilcloth-msg.

 

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NOTICE -

 

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

 

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

 

I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.

 

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors.

 

Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s).

 

Thank you,

   Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous

                                         Stefan at florilegium.org

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Date: November 7, 2014 at 4:11:47 PM CST

From: al Thaalibi <thaalibi at gmail.com>

To: the-triskele-tavern at googlegroups.com, "Gatti, Kenneth W." <Kenneth.Gatti at va.gov>

Subject: Re: {TheTriskeleTavern} fulling of cloth

 

Fulling is really a wool specific process, to a lesser degree it can be done with the mixed wool-linen or wool-silk blends.  It's still done with high end fabrics, but it is a time and labor intensive process, even with mechanization.

 

Basically they would wash it with either stale urine or fullers earth, then they would mechanically agitate the wool to make it felt up and thicken.  Early on it was all done by hand/feet; but the use of waterwheels to mechanize the process was pretty early on.

There was a last step of stretching it out for some types of fabrics and finishes...

 

Most of this I know from living with a fiber Laurel, and studying the hardware used for the clothing...  It's pretty much a study in and of itself...

 

 

Date: November 7, 2014 at 5:31:02 PM CST

Subject: Re: {TheTriskeleTavern} fulling of cloth

From: Beth Alexander <bealexan at gmail.com>

To: the-triskele-tavern at googlegroups.com

 

Fulling is a technique that not only tightens the fibers but creates a softer, "fluffier" fabric as well and is usually associated with wool textiles. The "Tudor Monastery Farm" series did a spot showing a water wheel fulling machine that was pretty awesome.Well worth tracking down on you-tube to watch.  It was also done by stomping on the fabrics in buckets filled with stale cow urine.  It's not hard to understand why the more mechanized process became popular instead.

 

Since I am not at all interested in playing with urine of any sort, I recently fulled some of my husbands wool off the loom by putting it in the cloths dryer on no heat with three tennis balls. It showed different variations of the fulling depending on the origin of the fleece. The commercial wool that we did not know the content of only fulled slightly but it softened up nicely and it didn't have too much shrinkage.  The section woven from merino wool turned into a wonderful fluffy soft, thick piece and had about a 30% shrinkage.  A fun experiment and it has made a lovely winter cap.

 

Many of the methods used to full wool during the middle ages were dangerous.  The chemicals used (including urine) in the fulling of hats led to serious brain damage and is the origion of the phrase : "Mad as a Hatter!"  So I think you should stick with the clothes dryer if you want to experiment.

 

Signy Ottarsdottir

 

 

Date: November 10, 2014 at 9:37:06 AM CST

From: al Thaalibi <thaalibi at gmail.com>

To: the-triskele-tavern at googlegroups.com

Subject: Re: {TheTriskeleTavern} fulling of cloth

 

In general, most of the medieval industrial uses for stale urine was for the ammonia (it's a urea breakdown product) content.   Nowadays, to "scour" wool, you just use a solution of non-sudsing ammonia, and not have to worry with the unpleasant organic components that the urine would have (that had to be rinsed out of the material when the scouring was done).

 

It was a cheap and readily available source of a chemical that could would otherwise require a more labor intensive distillation process to get.  But there's a reason that cloth-processing, tanning, and the like were usually downstream and downwind...

 

On 11/8/2014 12:15 AM, Stefan li Rous wrote:

If you get over your aversion to using urine, there are apparently many things that were done with it in the Middle Ages.

urine-uses-msg (8K) 2/ 8/08 Period uses of animal and human urine.

--

  al Thaalibi -- An Crosaire, Trimaris

Ron Charlotte -- Gainesville, FL

thaalibi at gmail.com OR ronch2 at bellsouth.net

 

 

Date: November 10, 2014 at 9:50:44 AM CST

Subject: Re: {TheTriskeleTavern} fulling of cloth

From: Beth Alexander <bealexan at gmail.com>

To: the-triskele-tavern at googlegroups.com

 

LOL...Yup!  I had to tell his Lordship that I was NOT stomping up and down in a tub of urine.....no mater HOW authentic.

 

By the way, the tennis balls in the dryer trick does work!  If you want it heavily fulled you can add some light heat.  I only used 3 tennis balls and it took about an hour of pounding to get a really nice soft fabric.  I did not take any pictures or really document because it is a modern technique, but I will bring the cap with me to TMT this weekend if anyone would like to see the finished product.

 

Signy

 

On Mon, Nov 10, 2014 at 10:37 AM, al Thaalibi ‪<thaalibi at gmail.com>‬ wrote:

In general, most of the medieval industrial uses for stale urine was for the ammonia (it's a urea breakdown product) content.   Nowadays, to "scour" wool, you just use a solution of non-sudsing ammonia, and not have to worry with the unpleasant organic components that the urine would have (that had to be rinsed out of the material when the scouring was done).

 

It was a cheap and readily available source of a chemical that could would otherwise require a more labor intensive distillation process to get.  But there's a reason that cloth-processing, tanning, and the like were usually downstream and downwind...

 

On 11/8/2014 12:15 AM, Stefan li Rous wrote:

If you get over your aversion to using urine, there are apparently many things that were done with it in the Middle Ages.

urine-uses-msg (8K) 2/ 8/08 Period uses of animal and human urine.

--

   al Thaalibi -- An Crosaire, Trimaris

Ron Charlotte -- Gainesville, FL

thaalibi at gmail.com OR ronch2 at bellsouth.net

 

<the end>



Formatting copyright © Mark S. Harris (THLord Stefan li Rous).
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Comments to the Editor: stefan at florilegium.org