Cloth (Production)

The production of fabric for clothing was generally the task of women. In Proverbs 31:19 it is said of the “strong woman”, “She spins her own thread and weaves her own cloth.” Women made the cloth primarily for use in their own home, but occasionally they also sold some, as we are told in Proverbs 31:24.

Spinning and weaving were mostly done at home. But 2 Kings 23:7 tells us that there were women in the Temple who had to make clothing for the statues of the goddess Ashera.

There were also men who wove and worked on cloth, for example, cloth for the decoration of the tabernacle. Spinning was seen as women’s work.

Raw Materials

The most commonly used resource for the making of cloth was sheep’s wool. Flax was also used to make linen. Other materials were hemp, goat’s hair and camel’s hair.

In Ezekiel 16:10-13 and Revelation 18:12, silk is mentioned. The translation of the word in Ezekiel is contentious, as it is unlikely that silk was known in the Mediterranean region at that time.

Production

The production of fabric consisted of different steps:

Collecting the fibres.
Cleaning the fibres. Flax had to have its hard, outer husk removed. Wool was washed first and then combed or carded to untangle it somewhat.
Spinning the fibres into thread.
Dyeing the thread. This was sometimes done before spinning or after weaving.
Weaving the thread into a cloth.
Finishing the fabric by adding a coat of clay, water and urine. This was called fulling and its purpose was to thicken and strengthen the cloth. Finally, the fabric was washed.