Hackled Tow ( Machine Tow)

The flax fibers are combed and hit on the fans to get rid of the finally sticky base and combed with the aim of separating the short and irregular fibers from the lining of uniform length. Hackling is the last of three steps in preparing the fibersto be spun.It splits and straightens the flax fibers, as well as removes the fibrous core and impurities. Dressing is the broad term referring to removing the fibers from the straw and cleaning it enough to be spun consists of three steps: breaking, scutching and heckling. After breaking, some of the straw is scraped from the fibers in the scutching process, then the fiber is pulled through various sized heckling combs,[or hackles]. Different sized heckling combs are used, progressing from coarser combs with only a few prongs or nails per inch, to finer combs. Generally three heckling combs are used;however, many more can be used. The finer the final heckling comb, the finer the yarn spun from that flax can be. An example of a progression of five combs is first using a heckling comb with four nails per square inch, then one with 12 per inch, then 25, next 48, and finally 80 nails per inch. The first three remove the straw, and the last two split and polish the fibers. The shorter fibers that remain in the hackling comb after the flax has been combed are called tow .If the hackle is fine enough, the tow can be carded like wool and spun, otherwise it can be spun like the other flax fibers. Tow produces a coarser yarn than the fibers pulled through the hackles because it will still have some straw in it. While this yarn is not suitable for fine linens, it can be used for bagging, rough sheets, cords or ropes.