The Ins and Outs of Flax Language

Ally McDonough

UNH Master of Arts in History: Museum Studies Candidate

2024-2025 Research Assistant for the Flax to Linen Project

The language surrounding flax production is a whole new vocabulary. Learning the terms to describe what the Flax to Linen project is doing is essential to ensuring the general public understands and supports us. All of this information comes from the excellent book, "The Big Book of Flax," by Christian Zinzendorf, a pioneer in modern flax production. 

Broadcasting: The process of broadcasting flaxseed allows for more control over the spread of the seed. Growers need to be able to broadcast the flax tightly enough to discourage weeds from growing. According to the Big Book of Flax, "Broadcasting is actually a graceful skill that scatters the seed evenly. It involves taking a handful of seeds and spreading them away from one's body in an arc, either from left to right or from right to left."

Weeding: Once the flax plant has grown enough to be stepped on without being crushed, typically three to four inches tall, weeding is necessary to help it grow further. If not done, weeds will appear and choke out the flax plant. The two most common methods of weed control are hand-weeding and herbicide use. 

Harvest: Flax is harvested 90 to 100 days after planting, when the plant reaches approximately three feet in height. The plant is ready to be harvested specifically for linen making when the lower third of the stalk begins to turn yellow and the lower leaves start to drop off. 

Flax Knot: When harvesting, bushels of flax are collected and tied together using the flax knot. The flax knot is when a handful of usually unusable flax stalks is wrapped around the larger bundle of harvested flax to hold it together. The knot is similar to what one would use to tie a shoe, but with just one loop. This one loop makes it easier for the bundle to be laid out for the retting process.

Shooks/Stooks: Once the bundles of harvested and tied flax are finished, they are laid against each other to create shocks. Shocks of flax usually contain thirty or so bundles (depending on the harvest size) and are used to generate airflow through the plants, preventing them from molding in the middle. Creating shocks and leaving the harvested flax plants to dry takes about a week. The purpose of shocks is to allow flax plants to shed their water weight and begin the retting process.

Rippling: The rippling process is optional, depending on what use the harvester has for the flax plant. The rippling step is necessary if the harvester intends to retain the seed pods for the next planting season or other purposes. Rippling involves taking a handful of the dried flax plant out of the larger bundle and swiping it through a metal nail rippling comb attached to a wood block. Another way to remove seeds from flax stalks is to use a wooden blade and the edge of a table, pulling the flax stalk between the blade and the table to remove the seeds from the plant. The rippling step can be skipped if the harvester does not care or needs the seeds for any reason.

Threshing: The process of threshing is when the harvester needs the flax seeds for other purposes. The seed pods processed off the flax stalk are crushed in a thin layer using a flail. The flail can be as small as three inches by three inches or as long as twenty-four by twenty-four inches. The flail is then used to crush the flax seed pods to reveal the seeds that will be saved for the next planting season or used for other purposes. Once the seed pods have been crushed, they can be sieved to separate the seed from the chaff, and the seed can then be stored for later use.

Retting: Once the seeds have been removed from the flax stalk, the most essential process for the flax plant begins. Retting can determine how much usable material one will have to continue the linen-making process. There are two types of retting: ground or dew retting, and water retting. The Big Book of Flax states, “The retting process consists of three distinct phases.” During the physical or leaching stage, the stalks absorb water through either immersion or via dew. Bacterial growth occurs during the second or biological phase. Finally, pectin fermentation occurs during the primary phase, when bacteria begin to break down pectin between the flax fibers and the stem. The fibers are contained in pectin sheaths, which are the last to be eaten. At this point, the fibers separate easily from the stalk.”

Ground or Dew Retting: Ground or dew retting takes three to six weeks since this process requires turning the flax stalks over to promote even rotting. To begin the process, the flax stalks are spread evenly over a field and turned over once a week to encourage even rotting. This process aims to separate the outer shaft from the core fibers biologically. At the beginning of week three, the harvester will start testing the stalks to determine if they are ready for the next step. This is done by bending the flax stalk to see if the outer stalk snaps easily away from the inner fibers. If the outer stalk or boon bends and does not snap, the flax needs more time retting.

Water Retting: Water retting is used in wetter environments because ground retting needs a drier environment. Water retting is faster than ground retting because the warm water in which the flax is submerged promotes the rapid growth of essential bacteria. Water retting is usually complete in approximately four days, as the outer flax stalk quickly detaches from the inner fibers.

The Flax Brake: Once the retting process is complete, it is time to separate the outer flax stalk from the inner fibers. Even though the retting process begins the separating process, a tool such as the flax break is essential to completing the process. The flax break “looks like a kind of mangle with wooden blades on the top section sliding down between the blades on the lower section, an action that crushes and breaks the course, brittle stalk without damaging the pliable, tough, flax fibers” (The Big Book of Flax).

Scutching: After using the flax break, scutching is performed to remove all the outer stalks of the flax plant, revealing the inner fibers that will be combed. Scutching is done with a wooden knife against a wooden board. With the same amount of flax in hand as used in the brake, the bundle is held on top of the board with the stalks facing down, and then the wooden knife is used to scrape the outer, now broken stalks away from the inner fibers.

Hackling/Hetcheling/Combing: After removing the stiff outer stalks from the scutching process, the next step is to comb the flax to remove all non-usable fibers. A flax comb separates the shorter, unwanted fibers from the longer, wearable fibers used in spinning. The flax comb is a wooden board with approximately 25 nails protruding in five rows. Bundles of flax fibers are pulled through the flax comb, separating the longer fibers from the shorter ones.

Tow Fibers: The leftover flax fibers from the combing process are called tow. These short fibers are not well suited for linen making. However, they help create tow cloth, which is rougher but still durable enough to produce grain bags, mattress stuffing, and tow rope.

Strick: Once the combing process is complete, the usable, long flax fibers are braided into a strick. This prevents the fibers from getting tangled and unmanageable before the spinning process. Up to six combing bundles are used to make a single strick. The strick comprises six bundles of combed flax combined and twisted from the middle to create a twist that keeps the fibers from tangling. Once the twisting is complete, the end is tied off, and the strick can be stored for spinning later.

Spinning: Spinning flax turns it into linen. Once the flax is spun into a continuous thread, it is no longer considered flax but rather a linen thread. Spinning can be done in two ways: by hand or by a spinning wheel. Take the bundle of combed flax by hand and roll it against the leg until it is a tight thread. A hand spindle is also used to contain the thread created for the next step, weaving.  The Big Book of Flax explains, “The trick is to start the spindle turning round and round with one hand so a twist can start running up the newly made thread. At the same time, the other hand needs to be pulling fibers away from the distaff.” Spinning with a spinning wheel involves the same process of pulling fibers away from the bundle and spinning the thread into different widths of thread. Thicker threads from spinning would be coarser and used for grain bags, but thinner and finer threads would be used for linen clothing, bed sheets, or other purposes.

Warping and Weaving: It is time to dress the loom once the linen thread is spun into usable skeins. The Big Book of Flax explains, “The first step is to put the skein on a swift so the yarn can be wrapped around bobbins.” The bobbin at the rear of the winder is placed in line with the swift. As the wheel turns, yarn is drawn from the skein and wrapped around the bobbin until it is considered full. The bobbins are then placed on a bobbin rack from which the warp threads are pulled either by hand alone or through a warping paddle.” Once the warping process is complete, the loom is set up for weaving.