The Red Plaid Underdress--Calendering the Linen (Part 1)

Fabric, dry rubbed, mostly on the left side.

Today's photograph shows the results of my first attempt to "calender" my linen.  Calendering is the technical name for any process used to make a fabric smooth and to give it special properties, such as shininess.

On an industrial scale, calendering is done by running otherwise completed fabric through large rollers, and applying lots of pressure.  I have no idea how much rubbing the Viking women applied to their linen; a certain amount of trial and error will be required here.

The first photograph shows the fabric after it had been rubbed for about a minute with the glass stone; again, click the photograph to see it bigger and with more detail.  The result was a pronounced smoothing of the fabric, but only a faint increase in shininess that doesn't show up very well in the photograph.

At that point, I started looking for more information about the process.  Phiala's String Page states that linen can only be cold pressed (i.e., without heat) so long as it is damp, and I have seen similar comments on other educational sites.  That suggests that damp rubbing appears to be the way to go--particularly given my lack of obvious results from dry rubbing.  But how damp?  Slightly, or just short of dripping?  And for how long?  I suspect that if linen needs to be damp in order to be modified this way, the rubbing probably needs to continue until the linen is dry.

Thank heaven I only have two yards of linen to handle. 

There will be more on this subject after I have had time to experiment with damp rubbing.

EDIT:  To correct my spelling error:  Rubbing fabric to smooth it and give it a nice finish is called "calendering," not "calendaring".  

Red Plaid Underdress: Washing the Linen

Fabric as received.  The coins are to give scale.

These pictures show the changes in appearance of my linen fabric after soaking it for about 4 hours in lukewarm water, washing it in lukewarm water, and letting it hang up overnight to dry.  Click on any of the photographs to see the image larger and with more detail.

The first photograph shows the fabric as I received it in the mail, before any soaking or washing was done; I've added a .5 Euro coin and a US quarter to the photographs to give the viewer a better idea of the scale of the grid of the fabric's design.  The Etsy vendor's page said that the squares of the grid are 3/4ths of an inch on each side, and that looks approximately right though I haven't measured them.  

In person, the fabric looks more orange in tone, and less rose-colored, than it does in the as-received photograph, and the grid threads appear to be yellow in the direction of the warp and light sage green in the direction of the weft.  As my first post about the fabric shows, I thought that both sets of grid threads were white when I placed my order, but the difference between the photographs of the fabric on Etsy and the actual appearance of the cloth is subtle enough that I feel no need to complain to the vendor or abandon the project.

Fabric after soaking, washing and hanging to dry.

The second photograph shows the linen after the soaking, washing, and drip-drying had taken place, but before anything else had been done with it.  Because it was taken during the day, with natural sunlight coming in the window, it shows the true colors of the fabric.

At the point where I had the washed and dried fabric, it occurred to me that I didn't really know anything else about the rubbing process.  Do you rub the fabric when it is dry, or  while it is damp?  Maria's post doesn't answer this question, but I've seen at least one Internet article claiming that you should keep a spray bottle of water or other means to keep the cloth damp as you rub.  I will try both approaches, on different parts of the cloth, and photograph each, before I decide on how to treat the rest of the cloth.  At that point, it will be time for another update on this project.

Slickstone on the Cheap

Whalebone plaque, probably used for
linen smoothing.  Found in 1991
in the Scar boat grave on Sanday, Orkney,
Scotland.  Photo by Orkney Museum
(found on Wikimedia Commons).

Glass linen smoother, unknown date
64 mm wide, 39 mm thick, 242.12 g.
Trustees of the British Museum
(Wikimedia Commons)

Costumers interested in Viking Age Scandinavia are well-aware that the artifacts discovered by archaeologists include "ironing boards"--flat plates of wood or bone used for flattening cloth, and "slickstones"--rounded, flat-bottomed pieces of glass about 3 inches (75 mm) in diameter.  The cloth would be placed on the board, and vigorously rubbed with the slickstone.

According to Maria at In deme jare Cristi, linen that has been properly washed and dried will become not only flat, but will acquiring a pleasing shininess if rubbed with a slickstone in this manner.  (The link includes detailed instructions as to how to wash linen properly.  The process involves presoaking new linen fabric in cool water, washing it in water that is warm at best, and then hanging it up to dry.)

After reading what Maria said about the effectiveness of a slickstone in improving the appearance of linen, I was eager to try the process out.  I have several boards (plain, but usable) that would serve as smoothing boards, but where could I get a slickstone?  I don't have enough money to buy the necessary equipment to work glass!

Then it occurred to me that I do know how to get a glass object of the right shape--they are used in aquariums and as game pieces.  The problem is that the rocks used for these purposes are usually about the size of my thumbnail--much smaller than historical slickstones and too small to easily hold and rub against fabric.  Were larger glass rocks even commercially available? 

My glass rock, seen from above.

My glass rock, seen from the side.

Some Internet searching confirmed that the answer to my question turns out to be "yes!"  I found a company on line called Wholesalers USA, Inc., (https://www.wholesalersusainc.com/) that sells glass stones for various kinds of home decoration and crafts in sizes up to 60 mm.  Moreover, for 50 cents USD they will sell you a single stone as a sample!  I ordered one of the 60 mm (2.36 inch) stones, and it came today--pictures of it appear with this post.  It weighs 83 grams, and as the picture shows, it's a lot flatter than the slickstone finds.  Still, my hands are small, and its not too difficult for me to grab it by the sides and rub things with it.

I can't wait to try my modern slickstone out, but to try it out properly I need to get some new linen and wash it in the proper way first.  When I have tried it out, I will write about what I discover.

EDIT:  I have ordered some linen for my experiment.  It is reddish with a tattersall plaid, or grid of squares, in white.  A similar fabric was found in grave 27/1963 at Hedeby, except the background was white and the grid was blue.  However, each square in the grid of the Hedeby find was 4 mm wide, as compared to the 19mm (about 3/4ths of an inch) in the fabric I bought.  However, my fabric was cheap ($4.99 US per yard) and it was the last 2 yards available from the Etsy vendor I purchased it from.  The checked material at Hedeby is believed to have come from an underdress, so I will use my fabric to make an underdress also.

EDIT: (2/6/2019)  My linen arrived on Monday!  It's beautiful, so beautiful that it's hard to imagine making it more beautiful.  Pursuant to Maria's tutorial, soaking it in the bathtub (so it can lie as flat and unfolded as possible) is next.

EDIT: (2/8/2019)  I think I've found my project for the March Historical Sew Monthly; the underdress that I'm going to make from the linen prepared with my new slickstone!