Broadcloth

The Lakenhal in Leiden, now a municipal museum, but formerly the centre of the laken industry in Leiden. The Lakenhal in Leiden, now a municipal museum, but formerly the centre of the laken industry in Leiden.

Broadcloth is a type of cloth known in the Netherlands as laken and particularly linked to the city of Leiden, which by the late medieval period became the prime producer of this type of cloth in Europe.

Broadcloth is a plain weave made of carded wool that after weaving goes through a process of fulling, roughening and shearing. The characteristic feature in the process is the shrinking of the cloth (in Leiden, by AD 1471, regulated to 20% in length, and 40% in width) after the weaving.

An important step in the process of broadcloth manufacture was the fulling process, also known as tucking or walking, which involved the scouring and milling of the woven cloth. The latter was carried out by the long kneading of textiles, by hand or by foot. This led to the shrinkage and created a dense, filt-like structure in which the individual threads could no longer be discerned.

See also: Wikipedia

WV, 24 March 2022

Last modified on Tuesday, 13 September 2022 13:59
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