There is a belief that flaxen linen was first produced in ancient India about 9 thousand years ago. Nowadays, flax is not only used in clothes manufacturing, but also in making sackcloth, ropes, sailcloth, fishing nets, and flaxseeds (linseeds) are used to make flaxseed (linseed) oil.
At the close of the 17th century–early 19th century, the flax cost was high. In addition, the government encouraged growing flax in the peasant farms. However, by the end of the 19th century, flax prices started collapsing rapidly. The size of flax growing lands also decreased as a result of the fast growth of the timber industry.
Back in the old days, in order to make flax into the linen, a great amount of time and effort, along with many specific tools, was required. It was necessary to pull the flax stems, tie it in sheaves and ret until autumn or winter. Afterward, the sheaves were taken out of the water, dried in a banya (a steam bath with a wood stove), and scutched, so that the flax fibers become soft. After that, heckling could start.
A heckling comb was used in order to heckle flax tow (refined fiber) in preparation for spinning. One of such tools is displayed in the museum exhibition. A heckling comb is a rectangle wooden blade with long teeth and a flat handle sharp-edged downwards. One comb had 30 to 90 deep teeth. They were used to fix the flax tow.
Flax fibers were heckled differently depending on the region. For instance, they were heckled 2–4 times in the mid-Volga and North-East governorates. In other regions, they were heckled only one time.
When hand-spinning, the separate fibers were placed longitudinally and twisted helically into a long durable thread. In the old days, the ability to spin was considered a woman’s virtue, because one had to be extremely agile to pull out a thread of perfect width. Most skilful spinners could make not more than 300 meters of linen yarn working from dusk to dawn. No less than 20 thousand meters of flax fiber was required in order to get at least 15 meters of linen.
At the close of the 17th century–early 19th century, the flax cost was high. In addition, the government encouraged growing flax in the peasant farms. However, by the end of the 19th century, flax prices started collapsing rapidly. The size of flax growing lands also decreased as a result of the fast growth of the timber industry.
Back in the old days, in order to make flax into the linen, a great amount of time and effort, along with many specific tools, was required. It was necessary to pull the flax stems, tie it in sheaves and ret until autumn or winter. Afterward, the sheaves were taken out of the water, dried in a banya (a steam bath with a wood stove), and scutched, so that the flax fibers become soft. After that, heckling could start.
A heckling comb was used in order to heckle flax tow (refined fiber) in preparation for spinning. One of such tools is displayed in the museum exhibition. A heckling comb is a rectangle wooden blade with long teeth and a flat handle sharp-edged downwards. One comb had 30 to 90 deep teeth. They were used to fix the flax tow.
Flax fibers were heckled differently depending on the region. For instance, they were heckled 2–4 times in the mid-Volga and North-East governorates. In other regions, they were heckled only one time.
When hand-spinning, the separate fibers were placed longitudinally and twisted helically into a long durable thread. In the old days, the ability to spin was considered a woman’s virtue, because one had to be extremely agile to pull out a thread of perfect width. Most skilful spinners could make not more than 300 meters of linen yarn working from dusk to dawn. No less than 20 thousand meters of flax fiber was required in order to get at least 15 meters of linen.
The simplest and the most popular spinning tools in the 17th — 20th centuries were spinning wheels. They were made of different types of wood. For example: the spindle was made out of birchwood, the base was made out of either aspen or linden wood, while the heckles were cut out of hardwood.
