From Fibre
to Fabric
THE PRODUCTION OF OUR WOOL FABRICS
The entire production process, from selecting the finest wool fibres to processing them into finished fabrics, is in our hands. This ensures that every metre of loden leaving our production meets the highest quality standards.
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Step N° 1
Dyeing
The importance of selecting the finest wool fibres is one of the fundamental principles of our mill. This area of expertise has been passed down through more than four family generations. In a first step, the wool fleece is dyed using specific combinations of dye, pressure, temperature and time. These parameters are kept a close secret to ensure our unique colour palette remains unique. We keep a collection of original samples and compositions to ensure the continuity in each shade year after year. This highly skilled process is essential to creating beautiful melange yarns for high-quality loden fabrics.
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Step N° 2
Spinning
After many different colours of finest Australian Merino wool fibres have been blended and carded, ring spinning frames twist them into woolen yarns and into the desired fineness. The yarn for the production of woolen loden fabrics is characterized by its bulky and soft appearance. After spinning, winding machines control and clean the yarn as it may contain some inequalities which could cause an unproductive weaving process.
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Step N° 3
Warping
During the warping process, cones with fine woolen yarns are placed onto a creel. From this creel, yarn passes through tension and spacing devices and up to 4500 threads are wound on a big drum. After the full amount of threads have been added, the warp is removed from this drum and transferred onto a warping beam ready for the weaving process.
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Step N° 4
Weaving
Warp and weft threads are woven together to create our beautiful woolen Merino fabrics. On automatic rapier looms, we can weave greige fabrics up to 230 cm, which is necessary as they shrink during the subsequent fulling process. Before our loden qualities are finished, every meter of fabric is inspected in the mending room to ensure the high quality of our finest loden fabrics.
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Step N° 5
Fulling
Fulling is the signature process in the manufacture of woolen fabrics and the result is the shrinkage in both warp and weft direction of up to 30%. What distinguishes a high-quality woolen cloth is that it is almost impossible to see the original weave. This physical and chemical treatment makes Leichtfried loden unique and highlights the luxurious, wonderful look and feel of our fabrics.
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Step N° 6
Finishing
A series of different processes is applied to the greige fabrics to achieve the desired unique sheen and grip. In addition, the high quality of pure, clean water from the Austrian Alps plays a primary role in the wool finishing process, enabling the creation of softer and finer fabrics. For some of our loden fabrics we still use raising machines with natural fuller's teasels to provide a natural comb for brushing, aligning and raising the nap on woolen fabrics. This finishing process for loden fabrics is unsurpassed in the textile industry.