Flax, tow and flax waste: an explanation
Anyone who likes flax will no doubt be familiar with the term “tow”, as it appears on the yarns in our store, for example, but they may not know the real difference between line linen and tow linen, or what flax waste is . Today's post explains the difference between these three types of fibers, all of which come from the same source but are different from each other.
In a nutshell, the difference has to do with the quality of the fibers that make up each of these types: Line linen is made up of the best and longest fibers extracted from the flax plant, Tow linen is made up of the remaining shorter fibers and Flax Waste is made up of the residual fibers resulting from the processing methods.
Immediately after scutching, the process by which we separate the flax fibers from the straw of the stem, the hackling process begins to prepare the fibers for spinning. The hackling process functions like combing, not only aligning the fibers, but also separating the longer fibers from the shorter ones. At this point, all the fibers in the plant are separated into 3 categories: Line linen, Tow linen and Flax Waste.
Manual scutching of flax;
Scutched flax, ready for hackling;
Hackling of flax using a hackle;
In the hackling process, the shorter fibers (tow) remain caught in the hackle;
Flax
The longest fibers resulting from hackling are line linen fibers. Because they are the longest fibers, they are the highest quality, allowing us to spin the finest and most perfect yarn for weaving the finest and most delicate fabrics. We consider line linen to be of superior quality because it is made up of the plant's finest fibers.
Tow linen fibers (left) vs. Line linen fibers (right), both resulting from the hackling process;
Yarn made from the longest line linen fibers;
The longer line linen fibers resulting from the hackling process;
Fabric made from the line linen fibers;
Tow
The shorter fibers that usually remain in the hackle during the hackling process are called tow linen. After hackling, these shorter fibers are removed from the hackle and spun, resulting in a usually thicker and coarser yarn, which, when woven, gives us a thicker and heavier fabric, hence the name.
The name “tow” is usually associated with coarser linen fabrics for this reason.
Tow is still made of flax fibers, of course, but it's different from linen linen because it gives us a lower quality fabric (or just a different one, for those who like tow better).
The shorter fibers that result from the hackling process;
Coarser yarn produced from tow linen;
Tow linen fibers;
Coarser yarn produced from tow linen;
Flax waste
Flax waste is the residue from the scutching and hackling processes and consists not only of some of the shorter flax fibers, but also some straw that can't be disposed of. As nothing is wasted (or was wasted), flax waste was used to produce coarse fabrics which were then used to make sacks, for example.
Fibers and straw remnants left over from the scutching process;
Yarn made from flax waste;
