The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1872-06-14
How BrOadclOth is Made.

How Br0adcloth is Made.
Stage by stage, from sleeps back to
gentleman's back, we will trace the
history of broadcloth. The wool being
shorn, goes to the stapler's and by him |
is sorted. 1t is neither long nor short, |
and, for cloth manufacture, if wool be |
not moderately short it must be short |
ened artificially. 1t is next we'll oiled |
and spun into thread or yarn, then
woven into tissue that will be cloth |
by and by, though a long way distant
from cloth when it leaves the weaver.
The tissue, il examined at this stage of
manufacture, would display its threads
Just as madam's stuff gown does. A
coat of this material would be thread
bare all over, despite its newHess. Be
fore this material can become COM
merical cloth, five chief things will
have to be done to it. Its texture must
be closed, that is to say, it must be
shrunk; it must be cleansed; a nap
must be put upon it; superfluous nap
must be shorn off; finally, it must be
hot-pressed. First, as to the closing or
shrinking. If we bear in mind what
has already been stated about the
quality of felting possessed by wool due
TO the presence of certain saw-like
teeth, the reason of shrinkage will be
understood. To accomplish this is the
fuller's task and he goes to work as
follows: He takes the material to be
shrunk, wets it, soaps it, and sub
mits it to the fulling-mill for a con-
siderable time-seven or eight hours
under which operation the shrinkage
is effected. The fulling machine is al
engine so contrived that certain heavy
piles of hammers are brought to bear
upon the texture, already soaped,
wetted, and laid in a trough. The
hammers are so fixed in the machine
that not only do they fall upon the
texture with heavy thuds, but at the
same time turn it about, each stroke
being delivered on fresh portion.
Now, bearing in mind the saw-like
teeth, and the quantity of telling, what
happens will be easily understood. The
wool fibers are well soaped, as we
already know, and but for their serra-
tions, ali looking one way, they would
slide upon each other in various ant
irregular directions. Practically, how
ever, they can only slide one way
namely, with the roots foremost. The
result is that the saw-like teeth catch
among each other, at every catch
making the wool fioers shorter, where
by the entire texture is shrunk, and, o.
course, proportionally closed up and
thickened. This result being ac~
complished, the workman clears away
the soap by means.of fuller's earth and
water, the fibre still remaining in the
trough, and still wrought upon by the
falling hammers or piles. Being taken
from the fuller's mill, the shrunken
material has next to be dried. This Is
done by hanging it on tenter hooks
stuck into the margins of the texture
at convenient distances. Obviously
this is an operation that would admit
of considerable deceit in dishonest
hands. The wet fabric might be in
juriously stretched-made broader and
longer, to the prejudice of the material.
Formerly the exact amount of stretch
ing to be used was regulated by act of
Parliament, SO important did the mat
ter seem. Well, our material woven,
fulled, and dried, is not cloth yet
though considerably advanced on its
way to cloth. 1t has no nap; so the
next process will be imparting nap to
it. Let us suppose, now, by way of in
Producing the nap-impaiting process,
that a piece of our material having
been laid fiat on board, a cat gets on
it and scratches it. Puss would get a
sort of nap on our material, though
she would deal with it somewhat
roughly. If the scratching effect of
cats claws were such as the cloth
worker required, he might initiate the
operation by some sort OF wIre-tootli
machinery. Although too violent ii
would be; for although nap is really
scrathed up out of threads, this is
effected by little hooks incompaIably
finer than the claws of any cat; finer
than any hooks mans ingenuity has
enabled him to devise-the agents used
by clothiers of to-day, as by the Ro-
mans being the hoOk-like growths Of
the Dipsdcus fultorun or fuller's
teasel. This plant, in growth, Is some
thing like a thistle. 1t bears round
heads, each about the size of small
apple, and studded all over with fine
hooked protuberances. Many of these
teasel-heads, being packed together and
bound up tight on flat surface, make
n sort of comb, or curry-comb, and tins
was the invariable way of packing
teasels for use in cloth manufacture
once. They may also be packed on a
cylinder, but however arranged, their
use in getting up nap out of threads
will be obvious Caused to rub against
the incipient cloth, they scratch out
little odds and ends of wool, and pro-
duce hairy surface.
One stage further-then our woven
material has advanced on the road to
perfect cloth; but it is not cloth yet.
The nap just scratched up by the teasei
hooks is of all lengths, within certain
limits. The manufacturer wants an
even length, which he accompliShes
by shcaring. Next follows hot-presSing,
which being done we regard The cloth
as made. - Morgda'S British Trade
Journal.