Australian Ginned Lint

Traditionally, spinners opened lint to prepare it for spinning by spreading it on a rug and beating it with a forked willow stick. When struck sharply with the stick, the lint fluffs up and vegetable matter is released (Joan Ruane, 2015: Beginning Cotton Spinning on a Wheel).

To prepare lint for spinning, hand-teased or open lint and then card on fine-tooth hand carders or drum carder to create punis or batts.

Lint dyes well after washing gently in hot water with a dash of dishwashing detergent for 30 minutes. The lint is easily dyed using direct dyes, such as Solar,  in hot water with salt or fibre-reactive dyes, such as Drimarene K, in cool to warm water with soda ash. Dyes are available from Batik Oetoro.