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Gerry Paton

Jan 22

Edited: Jan 22

London Shrunk Cloth

in Interesting Findings

I just found out about 'London Shrunk' cloth. This video is a nice slice of history:

https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/79140/

Something that one can do at home, apparently (hopefully we can forgo the hydraulic press with an equivalent weight of 30 tonnes).

3 comments

Comments (3)

Bill Davis

Feb 03

Thanks Gerry. That was interesting. I think of shrinking in terms of a washer and dryer 🤣

I'm guessing these days fabric is run through some sort of heated roller at thirty miles per hour. I did like their method of drying sixty yards of fabric by draping it from a bunch of wooden slats in the ceiling.

Gerry Paton

Feb 04

Replying to

It's still available:

https://www.wtjohnson.co.uk/london-shrunk/

I don't have the room, but apparently you can sandwich (wool) cloth in a damp blanket overnight, then air dry it over a line/rack.