Flannel (Welsh gulanen, close to which is the provincial flannen). The processes in the manufacture of flannel are similar to those employed for woollen cloth, which differs in its nature from worsted cloth. For flannel the wool, after passing through the preparatory processes of scouring and devilling, is carded, spun, woven, and fullled or milled. Those kinds with a fleecy pile on the surface are passed through the teasing-machine (see WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES). Yarn for ordinary flannel is loosely spun to impart softness to the fabric. Flannel wears better and shrinks less if the pile is slightly raised than if it is much raised, and it is better to get it of the natural white colour than slightly blued, as this tint gives way at the first washing.
Welsh flannel made from the wool of the Welsh mountain-sheep fetches the highest price. But it is well known that the supply of this wool is not nearly enough to make the quantity of flannel sent into the market as 'real Welsh.' Some of the Lancashire flannels made of other wools are hardly inferior to those made in Wales. Yorkshire flannels are lower in price than either of these. Special kinds of flannel are made, such as the comparatively firmly spun and closely woven flannel for cricket dresses and fancy shirts; thin all-wool gauze flannel for use in India and other warm countries; similar flannel made with a silk warp; dometts made of wool and cotton; and gray, dyed, and printed flannels. The manufacture of flannels is chiefly carried on in England at various places in Lancashire and Yorkshire, and in Wales at Newtown, Welshpool, and Llangollen. Flannel shirtings are made on a considerable scale at Anchterarder in Scotland.
In the United States flannels are manufactured on a very extensive scale. In order to prevent shrinkage these are made of yarns more closely twisted than those used for English flannels. American flannels are also less highly fullled, and smoother in the face. The French excel in the manufacture of fine dyed flannels. On the Continent, also, a substitute for flannel is made of the fibre of the leaf-needles of the Scotch Fir (see FIBROUS SUBSTANCES).