Author: Jo Bund

Having rescued a loom from the skip (see my previous post) I now want to clean and restore it back to working order. First steps are to clean all of the metalwork and remove any rust; clean, lightly sand and wax the wooden frame; and replace the fabric on the rollers as it is in very bad condition.

The loom is a 16-shaft table top loom. On each of the 16 shafts there are about 120 heddles (made of thin wire)…and on at least 4 of the shafts these heddles are very rusty.

Each shaft is made of four metal bars that are held together with screws. Working on one shaft at a time, I undid the screws at one end of the shaft, removed one of the metal bars and then removed the heddles individually.

Using a small container, I added warm water and a little bicarbonate of soda and placed the heddles in the solution allowing them to soak for a few minutes.

Taking one heddle at a time, I gently scrubbed it with a scourer, to remove the grime and any rust, and dried it with a paper towel. The wire heddles are quite fragile and bend easily, so I needed to handle them carefully.

Once clean and dry I could slide each one back on to the shaft and screw the metal bar back in place.

I have cleaned four shafts so far and have decided to initially set up the loom as a 4-shaft loom, while I learn how to use it. I’ll clean the remaining 12 shafts later on.

The next job was to replace the fabric on the three rollers. You can see from the image below how worn they are.

I removed the old fabric from the rollers and used it as a template for the replacement pieces. I looked through a small stash of old fabric I have and found an old cotton sheet that had a lovely quality.

After cutting out three pieces, I decided to add eyelets to give the fabric more strength where the string is tied.

I chose 5.5mm eyelets in chrome. Using a punch I made seven holes, evenly spaced, along the edge of the fabric. The eyelets come in two parts – I placed the larger piece at the bottom, put the hole in the fabric over it, placed the smaller eyelet piece on top (to make a sandwich) and hammered them in place using the eyelet tool.

Once I’ve replaced the string they’ll be ready to fix on to the loom.

During an annual visit to the Prism textile exhibition in Mile End, a conversation was overheard…’I’ve got a loom in my car, do you know anyone who would like it? I’ve rescued it from a college in South London that’s closing down it’s textile weaving course – the loom was heading to the skip!’ Oh!! I spun round to see the woman speaking to the invigilators. ‘Sorry, what did you say?’, I asked her. She said the loom was in the back of her car and that she needed to find a home for it, ideally today. I took a look at it and thought hmm, that’s big, but…could I…should I?!

She said it was a 16 shaft table-top loom (which I have never used before). Many questions were spinning around my head…’Where would I put it? Do I need it? Do I REALLY need it?’ I thought, I may not NEED it but I definately don’t want to see it end up in a skip. She was keen to find it a new home that day, so I said if she could find someone, then great they should have it, but if not I would be very interested.

I spent the next hour wandering around the exhibition while the woman had various conversations with possible takers. She then came over to me and said ‘I think you’re the winner!’

The following weekend I drove to her studio in Manor Park, east London, and collected the loom. It was large and awkward but did just about fit in to the back of my car. It was heavy and the metal shafts and chains were clanking about – a couple of pieces came loose and dropped off.

Once home I was able to assess the condition of the loom and see what repairs and restoration was needed. It looked like it had sat in a corner of a textile room for years, gathering dust, grime and rust, every surface felt grubby to touch.

The fabric on the three rollers was ripped and worn, the wooden frame was dusty, with cup ring marks and paint splashes but otherwise it looked solid. I noticed the reed didn’t look like it belonged to the loom as it had been packed with foam and newspaper, so this is likely to need replacing.

The next step is to take it apart and begin the long cleaning process…