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With some advice from the Weaving group on Yahoo groups, I decided my washing machine would do the best job cleaning the heddles and Texsolv cords.
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I tied the cords and heddles with light-colored string or shoelaces, popped them into a mesh bag, and washed as usual with a load of white laundry. Then line-dried them overnight.
They came out looking shiny and new!
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I'm also cleaning up the first two shafts worth of moving parts for the loom. This wood is unfinished. I'm wiping off dust with microfiber cloths, and then cleaning farther with Orange Oil. My studio smells like an Orange Creamsicle!
For any really caked on grime, I'm scrubbing with fine abrasive pads.
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The loom is getting closer and closer to warp readiness!!
Currently I'm trying to figure out what to do about a couple of large splinters on one of the shafts. It seems like heddles could snag on them - so I should somehow repair them. Not sure how yet! Let me know if you have ideas!
5 comments:
You will have a blast once you get your lovely loom all together!
Wow, what a thorough cleaning. It will be well worth it!
I had some splinters on a couple of my shaft bars, but they weren't so big that they couldn't be sanded out. The texsolv heddles slide much more smoothly on them now. Not sure what to do about a really big splinter however.
Just read your comment on my blog, and so I clicked on your name, and found yours. I LOVE your weaving space, WOW, the light is amazing. Your loom looks like my big Toika, which I don't think they make any more...it is 84" wide, underslung beater....and you sounded like you might be close to me.....new england?? Always love to have weavers nearby! I am going to put you on my blog list so I can visit again.
www.crazyasaloom.com
www.crazyasaloom.blogspot.com
Good to see all of you here!!
I cannot wait to have my new-to-me Toika up and running! (Of course that still means more work - and some of it - the sanding and re-finishing - is not my idea of fun!) But it will be wonderful to have this loom in my life!
Hilary - good to meet another Toika owner! Mine is 59" weaving width with an underslung beater. I'm in NH. I guess I really should put something a little less generic in my profile!!
Happy weaving to all of you!!
Sue
Thanks so much for telling us about washing the Texsolv heddles! I'm cleaning up a loom that hasn't been used in years and the heddles and cords are very dirty. I now feel safe tying them together, putting them in a mesh bag and running them through the front loader! -Alison
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