Raising the Nap and Shearing Woolen Cloth — Teasel Napping and Cropping Shears

Napping and shearing are the twin finishing operations that transform rough fulled cloth into the smooth, luxurious broadcloth that made medieval England's fortune. First, the dried teasel heads of Dipsacus fullonum — mounted in rows on a wooden frame called a napping handle — are drawn repeatedly across the surface of the cloth, catching and raising individual fibres into a soft, fuzzy nap. Then a craftsman called a cropper lays the cloth over a padded table and shears the raised fibres to a uniform height with enormous spring-loaded cropping shears, sometimes weighing 15 kg. The cycle of napping and shearing is repeated several times — each pass producing a finer, denser surface. No mechanical substitute has ever matched the teasel: its hooks are stiff enough to raise fibres but elastic enough to release before tearing the cloth, and to this day teasels are used to finish the finest billiard cloth and military uniform fabric. This blueprint follows the cloth from its first napping through final shearing to a finished face.