"Out in the fulling mills, near the extractor. Didn't you see those long wooden things with the covers turned back, and the cloth going up through them so fast?"
"Yes, I saw them, but didn't know what they were. I don't see how going through those fulls the cloth."
"It's the stuff they put in—fuller's earth and soap; they pile the soft soap in by the dishful, and it makes a great lather. I s'pose the fuller's earth is what does the most of the work. After the cloth comes out of the fulling mills it's 'bout twice as thick as when it goes in, and feels all stiff and heavy. It's no more like what it is now than nothing."
"What's the next process it goes through?"
"It goes into the washers next, and is washed as clean as can be."
"How did you learn so much about finishing cloth? You have been here but a little while."
"My father worked in a mill, and I have heard him talk about it. Then I have been in a factory enough myself to know pretty nearly everything that is done."
"Do we take the cloth direct from the weave room? It doesn't look as though anything had been done to it when it reaches us."
"It is 'burled' first; then we get it."