Times are Changing.

It is the end of an era!  The process of mercerizing cotton is no longer available in the US.  RL Stowe was the last US spinning mill that produced mercerized cotton yarn, and it closed its doors in 2009. We wanted to tell you a story about the process of mercerization so that the memory of the textile industry in the US will be preserved.

 

Grandpa Giovanni and his daughter, Bianca, were traveling via the most modern ocean liner from New York to England.  “See Papa” Bianca said for the fifteenth time, “the engines on this ship are identical to the ones we should install at the Fringe Factory.  They are more efficient and reliable than the cranky steam engines we are currently using!”  Grandpa grumbled again and muttered something about “if it isn’t broken…”. 

On their way back up from the engine room as they headed for dinner at the Captain’s table, they met a man, who was pulling at his hair, and introduced himself as John Mercer.  “Are you that hungry?” said Grandpa.  “No”, growled John Mercer, “I have just come from a meeting with another old fashioned mill owner! Over 40 years ago, I developed and patented a technique to make cotton yarn stronger and take dye more readily, but this process shrinks the fibers and I am still fighting the textile industry to adopt my technique.” This of course caught Bianca’s interest as she had fought so many battles to modernize the Fringe Factory, and she said excitedly, “We might be able to help!  Papa and I are traveling to England to meet with Horace Lowe who is a chemist in the textile trade.  Let us work together and see if we can figure this out!  Maybe if we do something as simple as keeping the fibers under tension when it goes through the process it will keep the yarns from shrinking!”   

So when they arrived in England, they all went to meet with Horace Lowe.  After many long hours and quite a few meals together, the discovered that it was indeed necessary to hold the yarns under tension to prevent the shrinkage and to produce a highly lustrous yarn.  Horace Lowe took this process of “mercerization” of yarn through the patent board.  Luckily for these scientists, Grandpa Giovanni was a really good salesman and he was able to talk to the mill owners and convince them that this process of mercerization would be a wonderful thing and just what was needed in the textile world.

Best wishes for a loonie year!

Katzy Luhring and Michele Belson