Glossary of terms used on this site

A cylinder of wood or metal with end bearings for mounting into flanges either at the front or rear of a loom. A double beam refers to two beams which can be fixed to the rear of the loom when two warps are taken up in the weaving under two different tensions.  See back beam, breast beam and double beam.

The process of dyeing a prepared warp having been wound on a perforated metal back beam and dyed prior to weaving.  The dye is passed through the beam, the perforations and the warp under pressure.

Often referred to as the sley or batten. Used to beat up the weft into the fell of the cloth. See batten, fell and sley.

Or beat up. See beaten and fell.

A group of 40 warp threads. Also a group of spaces used in reed-counting, eg. the number of 20 dents in 37 inches which traditionally indicates the reed count.

A bundle or sheaf of tied flax or straw.

A mechanical treatment that uses beetlers or fallers (hammers or mallets) to give the surface of a linen or cotton fabric a flattened appearance. The spaces between warp and weft of the fabric are closed in producing a flat lustrous surface.

Made from the finest merino wool. A compact cloth, usually woven in a 2 and 1 twill with great precision, heavily milled and cropped to produce a perfectly smooth fabric which is soft yet firm, waterproof and capable of resisting the dampest atmosphere.  Traditionally dyed green, as the name describes, is used for covering billiard table tops.  During the 19th century it is said that billiard cloth was exported from the West of England mills to India where the green dye was extracted and re-used to dye yarns for Kashmir shawls. See weaves.

A breed of mulberry silkmoth which produces two generations per year and lays hibernating and non-hibernating eggs.  The monovoltine silkmoth produces one generation per year and multivoltine or polyvoltine up to eight generations per year.  Multivoltine or polyvoltine are tropical varieties which, unlike bivoltine or monovoltine from temperate regions, have no dormant period. See monovoltine, multivoltine and polyvoltine.

The Scottish Blackface sheep produces wool with a staple length of 20 30 cm and of outstanding quality which is most suitable for tweed and carpet manufacture.

From the French word blankete, derived from blanc meaning white.  Blankete was an undyed woollen cloth chiefly used as a warm heavy bed covering.  Traditionally constructed with woollen or shoddy yarn in a 2-and 2 twill weave and then brushed, some blankets are woven with a cellular or honeycomb weave and remain unbrushed.  The term blanket is also used in textile manufacture terminology to describe a sample length of cloth usually with a variety of different patterns and colourings in one piece. See shoddy and mungo.

From the French word blason, a coat of arms or badge worn as identification.  Traditionally blazer cloth is woven either in solid colours or in stripes using a
5-end satin.  Worsted wool or wool/polyester yarns are usually used in the production of this fabric.  Imitation blazer cloths are sometimes woven in plain weave using wool, cotton or man-made fibres, then raised to produce lightweight jacket cloth. See weaves.

A chemical which whitens yarn or fabrics. Sodium chlorite (chlorine), hydrogen peroxide or reducing agents such as sulphur dioxide or sodium bisulphite are the most common bleaches. Bleaching is used to remove natural and other types of impurities and blemishes from fabrics prior to dyeing and finishing. The removal of colour from dyed or printed textiles is usually called stripping.

Colour which run together from wet, dyed material onto a material next to it.  It has been known that the property of bleeding, sometimes caused through the  use of fugitive dyes or bad dyeing techniques, enhances its acceptability in certain markets. A range of striped and checked cotton cloths woven in India known as Bleeding Madras.

A process of combining  two or more types of staple fibres in one yarn to achieve a blend or mixture of either two types of natural fibre, a natural fibre with man-made fibre or several coloured fibres to achieve a colour mixture. See staple fibres.