Tape shows two short films showing the operation of a cap spinning machine and wool scouring machine. Probably used in previous displays at the National Wool Museum.Black VHS tape with white sticker and printed text. Tape is housed in a black plastic case with labels and stickers. Film includes colour footage and audio. 00:05 - cap spinning machine in operation, including close up detail shots 01:12 - end 01:21 - wool scouring machine in operation, including close up detail shots 02:45 - endLabel on tape: VIDEO VISION / VHS / GEELONG WOOL MUSEUM / SPINNING / SCOURINGfilm, wool processing, factory, mill, cap spinning machine, wool scouring machine, j dyson & sons, machinery, industrial machines

Photographs were most likely used for promotional purposes. Room filled with wool scouring machines in an unknown textile mill.Sepia photo of a room filled with Scouring Machines in landscape format, located a textile mill.textile machinery, wool manufacture, wool, scouring

When the fabric is removed from the loom it is often stiff, rough and uneven. There are a number of finishing processes, both mechanical and chemical that give wool fabrics their special look and feel. The fabric is often scoured again to remove oils and dirt picked up during manufacture. It is then pressed. For a soft and fluffy surface, the fabric is brushed. For a smooth surface, it is shorn. For centuries, machines similar to this teasle gig were used to finish fabrics. It uses the prickly flower head off the teasle plant (Dispsacus Fullonum) to do the delicate work to raise the surface, or nap, the woollen cloth. At least 1,500 teasle heads are needed for one gig. The teasel is a thistle like plant whose dried heads are used on the teasel gig. They are fixed to frames around the drum, or gig. The gig turns in the opposite direction to the flow of the cloth until the nap is raised. Also spelled as Teazel Gig.Large metal machine with wooden rollers and teasel covered drum.textile finishing, raising, raising machinery, teasel gig, fabric, wool processing, plants, thistle, drum

This photograph shows the interior of the Valley Worsted Mill in 1923. The mill was first established at this time, and the photo shows the interior after tooling up but prior to the mill actually commencing operation. This photo is one of 31 in total and shows the area and machines used for blending (the mixing of various fibres to produce the required quantity of yarn). The donor worked at the Valley Mill for many years. This mill still exists in Swanston Street, Geelong and is now being used by Melba Industries (an Austrim-Nylex company) to produce Jumbuck Nylon wool packs. "This wool scouring line was built by J Dyson & Sons Textile Engineers located at South Geelong, greasy wool blending was carried out on second floor above the scour line and dropped from above into the feed hopper, the scoured wool after drying was then blown through ducting directly into the Carding room for processing." - Greg AldrigeInterior of Valley Worsted Mill, c.1923.valley worsted mill, blending

Photographs were most likely used for promotional purposes. The Q-VEE machine is a scouring machine. When fabric is removed from the loom it is often stiff, rough or uneven. Scouring removes the oils and dirt picked up from manufacture, leaving the fabric soft and fluffy. The photographed machine was made by J. Stone & Co, a British marine and railway engineering company based in Deptford in south east London.Four black and white, blue tinged photos of a Scouring Machine from different angles. Black writing on the rear, typed with a typewriter and stamped with the company stamp.8051.1 - rear - "Q-VEE" Machine. Tomlinsons (Roshdale) Limited. SOHO Works Rochdale. 29.6.37 849 8051.2 - rear - "Q-VEE" Machine. Tomlinsons (Roshdale) Limited. SOHO Works Rochdale. 29.6.37 856 8051.3 - rear - "Q-VEE" Machine. Tomlinsons (Roshdale) Limited. SOHO Works Rochdale. 29.6.37 851 8051.4 - front on machine - FIY Chain Gear J.Stone & Co Ltd London rear - P.I.V. Dial Control Tomlinsons (Roshdale) Limited. SOHO Works Rochdale. 29.6.37 853textile machinery, wool manufacture, wool, scouring

Photo Album of Woollen Mills Dag Crusher being loaded onto truck to ship to G Callum of Breakwater for restoration by William Pargeter of Geelong. A member of and president of Geelong Vintage Machinery Association. After restoration used by G Callum. industry, machine, agriculture

One of fifty one photographs originally in a photo album found in the National Wool Museum’s office. The album was water damaged and the images were removed for conservation. The images follow the process of wool. Beginning in a sheep paddock and finishing as a folded fabric. It includes all the steps in between in this process, including shearing, transporting, selling, washing and the many different steps in the process of turning a single thread of wool into fabric.Black and white image showing a scouring machine with cloth.AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL PUBLICITY / ASSOCIATION / FLINDERS STREET RAILWAY BUILDING, / MELBOURNE AUSTRALIA / W27 / W27. Scouring cloth preparatory to Dyeing.wool industry, working life, women, boonoke station, farming, sheep farming, agriculture, sheep stations, transport, wool processing, shearing, textile industry, wool

Scouring is the process that removes wool wax and other unwanted products from wool. Wool is washed in a hot detergent solution. It moves through a series of scouring bowls and is then rinsed and dried. Careful handling and washing preserves the strength and softness of wool. If the wool contains lots of seeds and other vegetable matter, it must be cabonized. This means it is treated with a solution of sulpheric acid and then baked at high temperature to remove impurities. The disused scouring water left-over from this process was often let drain into rivers and watercourses causing pollution. Many of Geelong's wool scours along the Barwon River were closed due to environmental damage. The race system on this bowl is not the original it has been modified with a variation of the harrow system. Used at E.P. Robinson South Geelong from c.1890-1970.Scouring bowl.J. Dyson & Sons Pty Ltd, Geelongsouring bowl, j dyson & sons, geelong, wool processing, e. p. robinson, textile industry, factory, mill

After scouring, the wool fibres are still tangled together. Carding untangles the fibres by brushing and straightening. The wool moves through a series of wire brush rollers that revolve at different speeds and in different directions to tease apart the wool. The fibres emerge from the machine as a continuous filmy web - called a sliver. The sliver must be thinned and divided into strands before the next process. Carding machines constantly require tuning. A highly skilled technician maintained and adjusted the speed of the rollers on the machine. This machine was developed by the CSIRO in the 1960s as a small-scale experimental machine. Industrial carding machines were four times the size of this one. Gold plaque on display with machine until 2018 read: G.H. Mitchell & Son, Adelaide have celebrated 125 Years of involvement with the Australian Wool Processing Industry by contributing the funds necessary to restore The Carding Machine, Noble Comb & The Gill Box. Also another gold plaque read: Experimental Carding Machine donated to The National Wool Museum by C.S.I.R.O Ryde has been rebuilt by Nick Sokolov of Comb Research & Development with the help of Bernard Tolan.Carder with small roller missing at coiling end. Driven by three horse power motor. Wooden slated feed table synchronised to overall gearing.carding machine, machines, wool industry, manufacturing, wool processing