Reed Marks

Reed marks - before and after

On one of the lists I belong to a newbie asked about the wisdom of putting more than one end per dent in a reed. She was concerned about the marks left by the reed.

The above photo shows a before and after shot of towels that I've been making. The peach towel is loom state, the purple is finished. The set is 32 epi and I've sleyed four ends in an 8 dent reed. The reed marks are very clear in the peach.

During wet finishing threads will slide to areas of least resistance. They will generally fill in small gaps such as those left by the reed and if not disappear completely, will be significantly reduced.

In these towels the linen weft is not so inclined to move as much as a cotton weft would, so while the reed marks are not entirely gone, they are greatly reduced. Click on the photo for a closeup.

Remember - it's not finished until it's wet finished!