Material Packaging
Compressed fiber packages organize processed plant stems into standardized units for storage, trade and long-distance transport. For raw material sourcing, scutched flax bales represent the primary form in which long linen fibers are bought and shipped from European scutching mills to Chinese spinners. These packages are secured with high-tension steel bands to withstand mechanical handling during maritime shipping.
Each bale carries a tracking label indicating the country of origin and the scutching mill’s register number. This systematic packaging prevents the fibers from tangling or breaking, which preserves their staple length and makes them easier to feed into the spinning mill’s opening machinery.
Quality Grading
Independent graders inspect the fibers at the scutching mill to assign a quality grade based on length, strength and cleanliness. These characteristics are recorded on the certificate that accompanies the scutched flax bales to the spinning factory. Technicians in the receiving mill draw samples from different parts of the bale to check for moisture and trash content.
This check ensures the received fibers match the buyer’s acceptance criteria.
Spinning Preparation
Warehouse staff store the bales in a dry, ventilated area to maintain the fiber’s moisture content at a stable twelve percent. When released for production, the scutched flax bales are opened and allowed to acclimatize to the spinning room’s humidity before the hackling process begins. This step relaxes the compressed fibers, ensuring that they split easily during comb-out and drafting.
The fiber weight before and after acclimation is recorded in the production log.
