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Hi all-- >As I understand the process, today's dryer-shrink more closely >approximates the technique known as "felting" (application of heat to >wet wool), while medieval "fulling" refers to a process of scouring, >beating, washing and (minor) shrinkage. Yep--the "dryer shrink" was more to give folks an idea what wool does when subjected to water and stress. We don't see much real fulled cloth these days; in fact, I sometimes kick myself that I was too busy in London at the British Museum tracking down copies of the text I'm working on for my doctoral thesis to get to the V&A and examine their textile collection (or to contact the Museum of London about theirs). I suppose there's always another trip some day..... All of this does have a religious angle. At some point, I really want to get around to checking out references to clothing among (especially) Dominicans and/or nuns. I'm sure most folks are familiar with the "classical" Dominican habit, but from extremely early on, flexibility was a hallmark of the Order and they were directed to cloth themselves in whatever cloth they were given (didn't have to be black and white, although folks probably learned quickly what colours the friars tended towards). There are loads of grants of cloth in English royal accounts, and once I get better with the various Latin terms for cloth, I'm hoping to see what's there. Susan Carroll-Clark %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%