SUCCESS FROM FAILURE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 74, 17 January 1947, Page 5

SUCCESS FROM FAILURE

WEAVING FINE WOOL SEQUEL TO ART-SILK ATTEMPT Listening to a recent “Radio Trek” programme in the BBC African Service it was interesting to hear William Holt, one-time Yoi’kshire weaver, describe how ingenuity has turned failure into success in a recently-invented Yorkshire wool process. Thanks to a Yorkshire invention, it has been found possible to get through the looms worsted yarn so finely spun that normally the yarn would not stand up to the strain of weaving. It is done by means of a “carrier” or supporting thread which is folded or twisted with the fine woollen yarn, giving it the extra strength needed to stand up to the weaving. Then, after the cloth has been woven, this “carrier” thread conveniently disappears, dissolving away in the process of scouring. All that is left is a fine, light, pure woollen fabric—like gossamer —made of yarns so spidery that, befoi’e this discovery, anyone would have thought them impossible to weave.

This wonderful carrier thread is made from stuff which comes from seaweed, called Alginates, found on the shores of the British Isles. Originally, during laboratory experiments at Leeds University, it was hoped to use this seaweed stuff as a kind of art-silk yarn, but it was found that when washed it just dissolved away in soap and water, so that it was useless for the purpose intended. But then it was realised that this dissolving away was just what was wanted in a “carrier” thread. So failure turned into success.