March 18, 2013 Traditional Uses of Flax Fiber

Traditional Uses of Flax Fiber

Except for the use of fur or skin hides for garment wear, flax (linen) is considered to be the oldest known fiber. Linen fragments have been found in Neolithic sites. As a cultivated crop, flax was originally grown in Egypt, and made its way through Europe, Asia and eventually, the “New Worlds.” Although modern growing and processing techniques are now used in the production of flax/linen, for centuries the process remained fundamentally unchanged.

Flax Fiber in Olden Times
The Egyptians took the art of flax fiber from production to perfection.  The finest of the linens they produced were reserved for royalty and priests. An additional ‘fashion’ use came in the form of the ceremonial wigs, crafted by combining flax and other fibers and then dyed to the well-recognized black colour.

Seed was hand sown or broadcast on clean, moist well-tended land; land that had not produced a flax crop for several years.  The tiny plants were treated carefully in the early growing stages with women and children (and often slaves) sent to the fields to gently hand pull the weeds. Fields were watched closely, and in olden times, many ceremonies and celebrations were carried out through the growing season and harvest – all of them unique to a particular region.

To harvest the plants, they were hand pulled and placed in large stooks or bundles and allowed to dry. Again, individual regions had their own methods to complete the drying process – from barns to racks to air drying and in Sweden, it is said the sauna was so employed.

Rippling and Retting
Once suitably dry, the flax was rippled – a process whereby the plants were pulled through a rake or strong heavy comb like object to remove the seedpods. Next came retting – the process by which the outer shell of the flax straw is softened in order to expose the inner fibers. This can be done in a variety of ways with dew retting and water retting the most common. To dew ret, the flax stalks were laid flat and placed outside, exposed to the elements. To insure an even ret the stalks are regularly turned. Widowed women, known as “flax widows,” were employed to sprinkle the flax with water in order to maintain its dampness.  With water retting, the flax bundles were placed in any body of water available – from ditches to rivers, vats and even stagnant ponds. It was then submerged and weighed down.  The retting process would generally take from 7 to 21 days. Once ready, the flax was removed from the water and allowed to dry.

Breaking, Scutching and Hackling
The next step was to “break” the flax. This entailed crushing the remaining outer hull without damaging the inner fibers. In earliest times it was laid out on a flat surface and beaten with wooden mallets, stakes or spoons. In Denmark during the 14th century the breaker was invented – an instrument consisting of two or three parallel bars fixed on two uprights with a wooden blade attached. The blade was used in a chopping motion to break the outer hull of the flax. “Scutching” or “swingling” involved the removal of the broken stalks (known as shoves, boon or shous) to expose the fine flax fiber. This was carried out by placing the broken stalks on a scutching board and scraped with a wooden knife, rubbing the fiber free of the debris.
The final process prior to spinning was “hackling.”  This involves the removal of the tiny bits of flax straw and all the short fibers. The short flax fibers are known as tow. There are generally three or four sets of hackles, beginning with a course set and finishing with a very fine-toothed set. The flax fibers were drawn across the first hackle until no more coarse fibers can be removed from the fibers held in the hand; the process continued through the various hackles until all that remained in hand was the very finest fiber of a smooth and consistent length. This is called line, strick, hank or lint of flax and it is the fiber that is ready to spin. The coarse fiber removed during the hackling process is referred to as tow and can be spun for use in such products as sacking, candlewicks, tow ropes and other coarse materials.  At one time, the remaining straw was used in bedding and claimed to repel both lice and fleas.