WeatherWool Fabric (100% USA) "Sponging" at American Woolen Company

This short clip shows our FullWeight Lynx Pattern Fabric on the sponging line at American Woolen Company.Show more

SPONGING uses steam and heat to relax the Fabric. When fabric is woven, the weaving process creates tensions in the fabric. These tensions, if not removed, can cause real problems for the tailors, because pieces cut from a tense fabric will change size when freed from the bolt. American Woolen sponges our Fabrics twice.

Sponging also "fulls" the Fabric ... that is, the sponging causes the Fabric to shrink in a controlled way. When our Fabric comes off the loom at Material Technology and Logistics, it's about 61 inches (155 cm) wide, and the finishing processes at AWC "full" the Fabric down to about 52 inches (132 cm). Fulling, or partial felting, increases the warmth and weather-resistance of the Fabric. We full to the point where our FullWeight Fabric resists wind of 15mph (24 kph). We could make the Fabric tighter, if we wanted ... we could turn it into felt. BUT we require our Fabric to "breathe" well, and the more wind a fabric resists, the less it breathes. And the less a fabric breathes, the more quickly sweat builds inside. This density of our FullWeight Fabric, about 19.4 ounces per square yard (658 grams per square meter) provides the balance of wind-resistance and breathability that we chose.

Finishing involves not only sponging but also napping, shearing and sometimes decating.

This video was provided to us by Giuseppe Monteleone, who has been operating the mill at American Woolen since 1988. THANKS GIUSEPPE and the AMERICAN WOOLEN TEAM!!

THANKS EVERYONE FOR YOUR INTEREST! --- Ralph