The Manufacture of Woollen Cloth

Library and Archives Canada: 35mm, 28mm.
"Film about the manufacture of woollen cloth from the raw material to the finished product. Ontario mills manufacture cloth from domestic and imported wool. The woollen mill is not identified by name or location and there are no exterior shots of the mill. The interior shows male and female workers doing various tasks. The machinery includes various types of equipment driven by large belts. The film begins with scenes of workers sprinkling piles of wool with oil to keep down dust. A picker breaks the strands and removes burrs and other foreign matter. The wool is put into a roller machine. The wool is put through carding equipment which forms it into long fibres. Next the wool strands made by the carder are put into the robing machine. This forms the wool into loose rolls. The wool is separated into individual strands of yarn and given the first twist. Machinery called spinning 'mules' twist or spin the strands into yarn. Thus far, the only workers seen are men. Next, female workers are shown operating the equipment that winds yarn from boilers onto spools. Thsi is the end of Part 1. Part 2 begins with the warping operation. Threads are fed from a rack of spools and wound on a beam in the order necessary for weaving. There is a high-angle shot of the weave room and an intertitle claims that there is more noise in the weave room than there was at the Battle of Verdun. The next step in manufacturing is drawing or threading the needles for the loom. Two women are shown at this work. The next intertitle explains the warp and weft. Weft threads are carried crosswise by the shuttle bobbin. The next step shown is inspecting the cloth. Men and women inspect large bolts of woollen cloth which is spread on tables. Next, men are shown pouring buckets of water over the woollen cloth which is being fed through machinery. All animal fats and oils are removed in the washing vats and the cloth is shrunk to size. Men pull the cloth out of the washing equipment and measure the cloth. An extractor removes the water from the cloth, using centrifugal force. There is a close-up of the spinning extractor. The next facet of production is the use of teasels, or Scotch Thistles, imported from Scotland and used to raise the nap on the cloth while it is still moist. The next stage is dyeing the cloth. Equipment with fine steel needles raise the finishing nap on the woollen cloth. Other equipment is used to shear the nap to give it a finer finish. Next, it is brushed, ironed and pressed under steam pressure. Clouds of steam rise among the woollen cloth and equipment. The final shot is of a man sewing. The intertitle explains 'and your tailor does the rest'."