Turning Flax into Linen

[@CrowingHen]

I love your break. It's so elegant. Looks a lot more ergonomic than the ones we use with the handle at the end. This is a great video! Lots of good information.

[@diamondtiara84]

I learned a few things from this, including where flax comes from; I never even thought about it growing as a plant. It never ceases to amaze me how little I know, glad there are videos like this to improve my education.

[@holderm6]

In missouri nettles and hemp were used in a similar fashion. I believe the nettles would have been retted like the flax but wondered if the hemp was done the same way. Also interested in a closer view or how those tools were made. Great video and pretty cool how after breaking those fibers handle. You mention ‘flaxen hair’, ‘tow head’ was another related descriptor.

[@GrangerGangster]

It’s too bad that more of our mass-produced clothing isn’t made from linen because it seems like with all the useful byproducts and the fact that it’s an all-natural textile would be really beneficial in a lot of ways, especially for the environment, and especially because it seems like flax would make good use out of otherwise less-desirable ground. It’s such a cool material, no pun intended!

[@Beaguins]

Linen is great! Unfortunately it wrinkles badly, and that's probably why it isn't so popular now. Not many people like ironing.

[@pennyrobinson4266]

Informative! What hard work! I love linen and enjoy learning all about it!

[@steveww1507]

glad I found this channel

[@RevolutionaryGazette]

Welcome!

[@Thaijler]

So "fine" linen is not only high-grade, but the threads are fine themselves. Cool.

[@Adnancorner]

I wonder if you can use comb instead of wooden knife and the pins to separate the high quality fiber.

[@deannamiller205]

So labor intensive.

[@kellicoffman8440]

One aspect of home cloth making in the 18th century was it’s connection to the boycott of taxed British imports patriotic women made their own or did without

[@MarcTheUtahan]

How has no one said, “Rhett it and forget it?”

[@RevolutionaryGazette]

LOL!!

[@emmanuelajayi6418]

Am from nigeria.what season can I plant flax is it in the sunny or raining season.and how many types of flax do we have.

[@pingupenguin2474]

Probably rainy season, I would guess. Linen processing was a big industry here (the West of Scotland) because of the damp air, due to plenty rain.This made the processing easier I think. Flax grows here and in Ireland, so it probably likes the rain. Good luck !

[@pauldickfoss8039]

Linen was also made from hemp. I know it’s easy to say & not think about what was said, but the 18th century definition defines linen as being from flax & hemp.

[@flintlock2180]

great video.

[@RevolutionaryGazette]

Thanks!

[@sirj3487]

There is also the term: "tow-headed".

[@welcometothewolfpackk2534]

Although I'm not a fan of this time period, it was quite educational

[@RevolutionaryGazette]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@Aridanx]

does tow work as animal fodder?

[@PennsylvaniaPanda]

God loves you have a great day

[@nightfall3605]

Tow-headed is short blonde hair 🤯

[@maryexton7929]

She skipped "rippling"; the removal of seed pods.

[@nunyabiznes33]

Are the seeds allowed to mature on flax intended for linen than linseed oil?

[@maryexton7929]

Of course they are allowed to mature. You would need seed to plant next year, would you not?

[@maryexton7929]

Also, surplus seed is fed to livestock.

[@nunyabiznes33]

@@maryexton7929 I asked coz I remember reading somewhere that if flax is allowed to go to seed, it would no longer be usable for fiber, so the farmer would have to decide whether he want the seeds for linseed oil or the fiber for linen. I've then just assumed that if they are growing for linen, they then leave a portion of the crop to go to seed for replanting.

[@Beaguins]

@@maryexton7929 Flax that is used for textiles would not be allowed to develop seeds. Next year's seed would be produced by a portion of the flax that is reserved for that purpose.

[@micahmilne]

You've neglected a vitally important detail to address in any discussion of colonial American history. Consider the state of clothing today. Most of us will buy all of our clothing from the mass manufactured fast fashion industry. People no longer understand the value of cloth because of this. The sheer labor involved is invisible to us. We don't see the people working in terrible conditions for hours upon hours to sew our clothing and receive next to no money in return. In factory work, there are restrictions about the presence of toxic chemicals in the cloth, but the same is not true for every step of the manufacturing process carried out before. What of the people who breathe those in? Who live along rivers polluted with chemicals? In this video, you've failed to mention that all the labor of 18th century American linen -- the farming, retting, fiber processing, spinning, weaving, sewing -- was often done by people born or sold into the brutality of chattel slavery. You discuss the work of flax processing as if through the lens of a small family farm, but you said it right at the start. This video was shot on a historical reproduction **plantation** -- a large estate, a place of mass production. You and I would have worn the fine, long-line linen cloth against our skin, but who do you think was wearing the coarse tow cloth against theirs?

[@Beaguins]

The word "plantation" does not mean a farm worked by slaves. And most work done in 18th century America was done by freemen.

[@StaceyMayer]

I remember reading books about Colonial or Pioneer times mentioning that most households endeavored to create enough "linsey-woolsey" for their own family. A durable and reliable fabric, it has a long history of production among early American households; no "evil" needs to be ascribed to it. It was an honorable, durable product created from their own handiwork, whoever made it or eventually wore it. The more coarse parts were often used as fire starter. What clever people we came from!