Teasel

These are teasels which are used for raising the nap of cloth/textiles. In other words, teasing out the tangles to transform the wool into a kind of candy-floss cloud of fibre. The institution where I work is getting rid of a teasel gig, a machine full of teasels used to raise the nap. Only high end cloth manufacturers apparently now use this method as it is labour intensive.

A fabric with “nap” has gone through a finishing process that raises the fibre ends to the surface where they are clipped, brushed or left upright using the teasels.

The word teasing is derived from the teasel (or teazel) plant, Dipsacus sativus. The teasel has a thistle-like seed head, with sharp spikes surrounding the seed casings. Since the Middle Ages, Europeans have used the dried seed heads of the teasel plant to raise the nap on woolen cloth, and in the eighteenth-century the plant was introduced to the American colonies.Teasing wool creates a soft, almost furry texture on one side of the cloth. Baize, the cloth traditionally used to cover billiard and card tables, is a classic example of wool that has been teased.