Heckling (flax)

Threshing, retting and dressing flax at the Roscheider Hof Open Air Museum

Heckling (or "hackling") is the last of three steps in dressing flax, or preparing the fibers to be spun. It splits and straightens the flax fibers, as well as removes the fibrous core and impurities.[1] Flax is pulled through heckling combs, which parts the locked fibers and makes them straight, clean, and ready to spin.[2] After heckling and spinning, flax is ready to be woven into linen.

  1. ^ "Heckle." The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989.
  2. ^ Hood, Adrienne D. (July 2003). The Weaver's Craft: Cloth, Commerce, and Industry in Early Pennsylvania. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 0-8122-3735-8. Extract