Definition of FULLAGE
- a charge for fulling cloth [n -S]
en.wikipedia.org
Fulling, also known as
tucking or
walking (
Scots:
waukin, hence often spelt
waulking in
Scottish English), is a step in
woollen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of woven
cloth (particularly
wool) to eliminate (
lanolin) oils, dirt, and other impurities, and to make it shrink by friction and pressure. The work delivers a smooth, tightly finished fabric that is insulating and water-repellent. Well-known examples are
duffel cloth, first produced in
Flanders in the 14th century, and
loden, produced in
Austria from the 16th century on.
Waulking could be done with the hands and feet. In medieval Europe, it was done in
water-powered fulling mills. After the
Industrial Revolution, coal and electric power were used.
Felting refers more generally to the interlocking of loose wool fibers; they need not be spun and woven first.
Process
[
edit]
Fulling involves two processes:
scouring (cleaning) and milling (thickening). Removing the oils encourages felting, and the cloth is pounded to clean it and to encourage the fibers to felt, so in practice the processes overlap.
Scouring
edit
Main article:
scouring (textiles)
Urine was so important to the fulling business that it was
taxed in
Ancient Rome.
[1] Stale urine, known as wash or
lant, was a source of
ammonium salts and assisted in cleansing and whitening the cloth and having its fibers intertwined.
By the medieval period,
fuller's earth had been introduced for use in the process. This is a soft clay-like material occurring naturally as an impure
hydrous aluminium silicate. Worked through the cloth, it absorbs oils and dirt. It was used in conjunction with wash. More recently, soap has been used.
Milling
[
edit]
The second function of fulling was to thicken cloth by matting the fibres together to give it strength and increase waterproofing (
felting). This was vital in the case of
woollens, made from
carded wool, but not for
worsted materials made from
combed wool. After this stage, water was used to rinse out the foul-smelling liquor used during cleansing. Felting of wool occurs upon hammering or other mechanical agitation because the microscopic scales on the surface of wool fibres hook together, somewhat like hook and loop fixings.
Manual methods
[
edit]
Manual trampling, drawing after an
Ancient Roman fresco in the
Fullonica of Stephanus, Pompeii. A
fullonica is a fullery and laundry shop.
Originally, fulling was carried out by the pounding of the woollen cloth with a club, or the fuller's feet or hands.
In Roman times, fulling was conducted by slaves working the cloth while ankle deep in tubs of human
urine.[
citation needed]
There are several Biblical references to fulling (
2 Kings 18:17;
Isaiah 7:3 and
36:2;
Malachi 3:2;
Mark 9:3). In addition to this, at least one reference appears in the speeches of
Lysias, written in Athens during the 5th century BC.
[2]
Scotland, then a rather remote and un-industrialized region, retained manual methods into the 1700s. In
Scottish Gaelic tradition, this process was accompanied by
waulking songs, which women sang to set the pace.
[To be continued below]