in commerce, a manufacture made of wool, woven in the loom.

Cloths are of divers qualities, fine or coarse. The goodness of cloth, according to some, consists in the following particulars: 1. That the wool be of a good quality, and well dressed. 2. It must be equally spun, carefully observing that the thread of the warp be finer and better twisted than that of the woof. 3. The cloth must be well wrought, and beaten on the loom, so as to be every where equally compact. 4. The wool must not be finer at one end of the piece than in the reit. 5. The lits must be sufficiently strong, of the same length with the stuff, and must consist of good wool, hair, or ostrich-feathers; or, what is still better, of Dalmatian dog's hair. 6. The cloth must be free from knots and other imperfections. 7. It must be well scoured with fuller's earth, well fulled with the best white soap, and afterwards washed in clear water... water. 8. The hair or nap must be well drawn out with the teazel, without being too much opened. 9. It must be thrown close without making it threadbare. 10. It must be well dried. 11. It must not be tenter-stretched, to force it to its just dimensions. 12. It must be pressed cold, not hot pressed, the latter being very injurious to woollen cloth.

Manufacturing of white Cloths which are intended for dyeing. The best wool for the manufacturing of cloths are those of England and Spain, especially those of Lincolnshire and Segovia. To use these wools to the best advantage, they must be scoured, by putting them into a liquor somewhat more than lukewarm, composed of three parts fair water and one of urine. After the wool has continued long enough in the liquor to soak, and dissolve the grease, it is drained and well washed in running water. When it feels dry, and has no smell but the natural one of the sheep, it is said to be duly scoured.

After this, it is hung to dry in the shade; the heat of the sun making it harsh and inflexible: when dry, it is beat with rods upon hurdles of wood, or on cords, to cleanse it from dust and the groser filth; the more it is thus beat and cleansed, the softer it becomes, and the better for spinning. After beating, it must be well picked, to free it from the rest of the filth that had escaped the rods.

It is now in a proper condition to be oiled, and carded on large iron cards placed slopewise. Olive oil is esteemed the best for this purpose; one fifth of which should be used for the wool intended for the woof, and a ninth for that designed for the warp. After the wool has been well oiled, it is given to the spinners, who first card it on the knee with small fine cards, and then spin it on the wheel, observing to make the thread of the warp smaller by one third than that of the woof, and much compacter twisted.

The thread thus spun, is reeled, and made into skeins. That designed for the woof is wound on little tubes, pieces of paper, or rushes, so disposed as that they may be easily put in the eye of the shuttle. That for the warp is wound on a kind of large wooden bobbins, to dispose it for warping. When warped, it is stiffened with size; the best of which is that made of shreds of parchment; and when dry, is given to the weavers, who mount it on the loom.

The warp thus mounted, the weavers, who are two to each loom, one on each side, tread alternately on the treadle, first on the right step, and then on the left, which raises and lowers the threads of the warp equally; between which they throw transversely the shuttle from the one to the other: and every time that the shuttle is thus thrown, and a thread of the woof inserted within the warp, they strike it conjunctly with the same frame, wherein is fastened the comb or reed, between whose teeth the threads of the warp are passed, repeating the stroke as often as is necessary.

The weavers having continued their work till the whole warp is filled with the woof, the cloth is finished; it is then taken off the loom by unrolling it from the beam whereon it had been rolled in proportion as it was wove; and now given to be cleansed of the knots, ends of threads, straws, and other filth, which is done with iron nippers.

In this condition it is carried to the fullery, to be scoured with urine, or a kind of potter's clay, which is steeped in water, put along with the cloth in the trough wherein it is fulled. The cloth being again cleared from the earth or urine, is returned to the former hands to have the lesser filth, small straws, &c., taken off as before; then it is returned to the fuller to be beat and fulled with hot water, wherein a suitable quantity of soap has been dissolved; after fulling, it is taken out to be smoothed or pulled by the lits lengthwise, to take out the wrinkles, crevices, &c.

The smoothing is repeated every two hours, till the fulling be finished, and the cloth brought to its proper breadth: after which it is washed in clear water, to purge it of the soap, and given wet to the carders to raise the hair or nap on the right side with the thistle or weed. After this preparation the cloth-worker takes the cloth, and gives it its first cut or shearing: then the carders reunite it, and after wetting, give it as many more courses with the teazel, as the quality of the stuff requires, always observing to begin against the grain of the hair, and to end with it; as also to begin with a smoother thistle, proceeding still with one sharper and sharper, as far as the fifth degree.

After these operations, the cloth being dried, is returned to the cloth-worker, who sheers it a second time, and returns it to the carders, who repeat their operation as before, till the nap be well ranged on the surface of the cloth, from one end of the piece to the other.

The cloth thus wove, scoured, napped, and thrown, is sent to the dyer; when dyed, it is washed in fair water, and the worker takes it again wet as it is, lays the nap with a brush on the table, and hangs it on the tenters, where it is stretched both in length and breadth sufficiently to smooth it, set it square, and bring it to its proper dimensions, without straining it too much; observing to brush it afresh, the way of the nap, while a little moist, on the tenters.

When quite dry, the cloth is taken off the tenters, and brushed again on the table, to finish the laying of the nap: after which it is folded, and laid cold under a press, to make it perfectly smooth and even, and give it a gloos.

Lastly, the cloth being taken out of the press, and the papers, &c. for glooing it removed, it is in a condition for sale or use. With regard to the manufacture of mixed cloths, or those wherein the wools are first dyed, and then mixed, spun, and wove of the colours intended, the process, except what relates to the colour, is mostly the same with that just represented.

Cloth made from Vegetable Filaments. See Bark and Filaments.

Incombustible Cloth. See Asbestos.