To Mangle or Not

A Mangle is a tool that adds beauty to finished Linen items.
Linen that has been mangled is imparted with a sheen that is hard to attain by other methods. In modern society it might be viewed as an item of torture. Non electrified, this mangle requires manual labor, it goes against our modern society. One of the members of the Contemporary Handweavers of Houston has loaned this mangle to the Guild membership to use. The mangle was acquired in Sweden needing some tender loving care, which Julie’s  husband provided. Having never used a mangle. I was eager to see the difference that it would make to the appearance of a linen textile. Tracy demonstrated the use of the mangle for our WOW study group. She misted with water the piece to be mangled and ran it several times through the mangle rollers between an upper and lower layer of sheeting fabric.  This look can not be attained by ironing alone. It is best done after washing the linen  item for the first time and air drying ( no machine drying), till slightly damp.  I definitely will attempt to mangle any future linen items I weave.