Combing Residue
Mechanical comb pins split and straighten flax straw bundles, separating short tangled strands from long parallel line flax. Combing systems collect hackled tow fiber in collection hoppers beneath hackling frames to prepare secondary raw material for coarse yarn production. Short fiber lengths and residual shive particles characterize this material.
Processing plants grade the collected mass based on fiber length distribution and purity.
Yarn Processing
Carding machines process the coarse fiber mass into continuous webs that pass through drawing frames to improve sliver evenness. Mill operators blend hackled tow fiber with scutched tow or low-grade line flax to achieve target linear densities during dry spinning or coarse wet spinning operations. Chemical retting treatments applied before carding soften pectin bonds, allowing coarse fibers to draft smoothly during roving formation.
The resulting yarn exhibits higher surface hairy structure and lower tensile strength than long line linen yarn. Specialized carding clothing removes remaining epidermal bark fragments during web formation.
Fiber Limit
Fibre length variation limits the application of this raw material to low-count yarns below thirty metric count. Excessively short strands under fifteen millimetres fail to hold twist during drafting, causing frequent end breaks at spinning frames. Quality control standards reject lots containing excessive shive content.
