Beetling is a

textile finishing In textile manufacturing, finishing refers to the processes that convert the woven or knitted cloth into a usable material and more specifically to any process performed after dyeing the yarn or fabric to improve the look, performance, or "hand ...

process, where

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong and absorbent, and it dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. Lin ...

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

fabric is pounded to produce a flat, lustrous effect.

Process

Beetling is a textile finishing method used to obtain an aesthetic finish (i.e. lustre) in cotton- or linen-based fabrics. The fabric is wetted and treated with

potato starch Potato starch is starch extracted from potatoes. The cells of the root tubers of the potato plant contain leucoplasts (starch grains). To extract the starch, the potatoes are crushed, and the starch grains are released from the destroyed cells. Th ...

, and then hammers repeatedly rise and fall on exposed fabric for over 100 hours. The finish imparts a lustrous and absorbent effect which is ideal for linen dishcloths. It also changes the texture of the fabric, stiffening it somewhat so that it is similar to leather.

History

Within

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, beetling was first introduced by Hamilton Maxwell in 1725. Beetling is part of the finishing of the linen cloth. The hammering tightens the weave and gives the cloth a smooth feel. The process was gradually phased out, in lieu of calendering. One similarity between beetling and calendering is the compression; however, with calendering, the finish does not remain for the life of the cloth, which distinguishes it from beetling.

Beetling mill

William Clark and Sons, based in Upperlands, Northern Ireland, are the last commercial beetling mill in the world and have been beetling on the same site since 1736.

21st century

In the 2020s, there was a surge of interest in beetled fabric, largely due to a 2020

Alexander McQueen Lee Alexander McQueen (17 March 1969 – 11 February 2010) was a British fashion designer and couturier. He founded his own Alexander McQueen (brand), Alexander McQueen label in 1992 and was chief designer at Givenchy from 1996 to 2001. His ac ...

collection focused on beetled linen.

Culture

The beating of indigo dyed fabrics is used in several Muslim majority cultures. In North Africa, the tagelmust is commonly made of beetled fabric, and Egyptian women's dresses used to be made of beetled fabric as well. Yemenis also beetled fabric for women's clothes. Though no longer used in Egypt, this practice lives on in the preference for shiny fabrics among many Egyptian women.Costumes of Egypt:The Lost Legacies by Shahira Mehrez

References

External links

Textiles Textile techniques Textile arts of Ireland Linen industry {{textile-stub