Fibre Yield
Mechanical processing releases continuous strands from harvested flax stems by crushing woody cores between fluted rollers. Scutching output measures the mass fraction of clean line fibre and short tow recovered from total retted straw input during this primary separation stage. Mill operators record daily recovery percentages in production logs to verify machine efficiency before spinning mills receive the raw material.
Raw straw moisture content directly alters recovery ratios because excessive humidity causes wooden fragments to cling to spinning strands. Cleaned bundles leave the beating machine ready for grading according to length and fineness.
Mechanical Sorting
Graders separate recovered strands into long line categories for luxury yarn and short tow fractions for coarser textiles. Technical specifications dictate maximum allowable shive counts per kilogram within each commercial category. Technicians sample bales randomly from the warehouse floor to verify that residual woody matter remains beneath contractual limits.
Billed quantities reflect net dry weight rather than gross mass because trapped water distorts commercial valuations. Buyers compare delivered lots against reference samples before signing final acceptance certificates.
Export Classification
International trading houses purchase processed flax based on strict cleanliness standards documented in shipping manifests. Standard inspection protocols require laboratories to measure tensile strength and average strand length under controlled humidity conditions. Buyers reject lots failing to meet minimum strength thresholds regardless of initial recovery volume.
Final commercial agreements bind sellers to financial penalties if contaminant levels exceed agreed percentages. Foreign spinning mills rely on these standardized quality classifications to schedule their downstream weaving operations without interruption.
