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Cloth Making Menu
An Introduction
Who Did What?
Clothier
Woolstapler
Dyer
Willower
Scribbler
Blender
Carder
Slubbing
Spinner
Quilley Winder
Warper
Weaver
Finishing
• Burler
• Scourer
• Mender
• Fuller
• Tentering
• Raiser
• Shearer
• Presser
• Factor

Woolstapler

English wool was supplied by a stapler, often working in London. The staple is the length of one fibre when pulled out of the fleece. Spanish wool, with a finer staple, was being sold by the 1680s and took over from English fleece.

Wool Scourer

To clean it, the wool was washed by hand using water and either soap wort or urine, locally called sig. Baskets were used to hold the wet fleece, which was rinsed in flowing water – the local stream – and allowed to dry in the sun if possible. This process was done at the dyehouse by the 18cen.

Picker or Sorter

The raw fleece was sorted by hand into different classes of wool. The picker would assess the quality of the wool by looking at and feeling the staple ‘in the grease’. As it was picked over by hand, dirt and other vegetable matter (burrs) were removed or fell through the mesh supporting the fleece.