What Is The Last Phase Of Writing An Informative Essay?

What Is The Last Phase Of Writing An Informative Essay?A question that I get asked a lot is 'what is the last phase of writing an informative essay?' This is a question that I myself have pondered over the years, and in fact I would say that the 'last phase' is not as important as the 'first phase'. The first phase of writing an essay is to come up with an idea or a premise for the topic of the paper. For example, if you are writing an essay on sports or religion you would need to come up with some sort of a thesis statement to underpin your content.Once you have done this, you should now have some research material for the essay, but this is not enough for it to be a research paper. It still needs to be well written and to the point. The next phase of writing an informative essay would be to begin thinking about how to organize the content of the paper, how to structure it, and if you are lucky, you may have some extra ideas for the topic that you want to write about.The third phase of writing an essay is to use your researched ideas and to piece them together in a coherent manner. You are now able to create a title for your paper, and the title must be taken into consideration when you start writing the introduction to the paper. However, the introduction is where the essay begins to develop. The first half of the essay will cover your topic and outline it; the second half will contain your main thesis statement, and finally, the conclusion will state the exact position that you stand on the subject matter at hand.The last phase of writing an informative essay would be to proofread your paper before submitting it. You will find that you will have mistakes in the content and will have to take care of these first before submitting the final copy of the paper. It is also crucial that you use a spell check to ensure that all of the words are correctly spelled.The final stage of writing an essay is to revise the paper, proofread it once more, and then have it chec ked for grammar and style. The purpose of this final stage is to ensure that everything looks right and that it is ready for the class to see. At this point, you have completed the first phase of writing an essay, and you can now move onto the second phase which would be the presentation of the final product.The final stage of writing an essay would be the presentation of the paper. In order to present your paper, you will need to do a little bit of writing and some research. Remember, you are writing an essay so you will need to be able to present it in a logical and organized fashion.For this final stage of writing an essay, you may want to make sure that you have done your research work thoroughly, and that you have come up with an interesting idea. Make sure that you read through all of the papers you have read and that you are still able to follow the rules and formats that they use to write their papers.Finally, what is the last phase of writing an informative essay? It is to put everything that you have written together into a cohesive piece of writing that will enable it to be used by your students. After all, it is their education that is going to determine their future.

Writing Essay Examples on Your Target Market

Writing Essay Examples on Your Target MarketTarget market essay samples can help you establish the right target audience for your online marketing campaigns. Since so many people these days, the Internet is jam packed with different types of people that have a vast array of options available to them.However, there are some people that do not want to buy your product or service, and they would rather come up with their own target market for whatever product or service they want. There are also some people who just want to view and learn about a product or service before purchasing it. Whatever your target market is, writing an essay that explains how the product or service will benefit them and how they can use it is a good start.Writing an essay about your target market is an easy task if you write a strategic essay on what exactly your target market wants, needs, and wants to do. Target market essay samples help you to understand the real essence of a specific market. Once you have understood the essence of your target market, you can go ahead and customize your essay to that market's needs.One of the most important things about writing an essay on your target market is to choose a topic that will interest your audience. If you plan to write an essay that explains how the product or service can work for you, then there are certain questions that should be put to your target market. You should know in advance what your target market's needs and wants are. Once you have understood what your target market really wants and needs, you can tailor your essay to that market's needs.The introduction and conclusion of your essay should clearly explain what your target market is and how it can benefit from your product or service. Make sure that you also include the benefits of the product or service that you are offering to your target market. When you give an in-depth explanation of the product or service to your target market, you will be able to identify its strength s and weaknesses, and these would then be helpful for your company in the future.Target market essay samples are great when you are creating essay samples for your company's sales page. You should aim to create good-looking sales pages that will boost your business and attract potential clients for your products or services.These essay samples are easy to use and are very effective in explaining the needs and wants of your target market. Aside from describing your product or service, you can also include information such as the advantages and disadvantages, the benefits of using the product or service, and the benefits of using your company. Target market essay samples are a great way to set your target market apart from other online marketing campaigns.

Jet Lag And Its Effect On Pilot Performance - 1634 Words

Jet Lag and Its Effect on Pilot Performance Jet lag is a lack of well-being experienced after long distance air travel, and is a form of fatigue that is mainly caused by a disrupted or displaced Circadian rhythm or â€Å"body clock†. (Factsheet) (Health1). When traveling far west or far east through the time zones, the body becomes confused and wants to go to sleep while the sun is still outside, or vice versa. Westward flights require the person to go to bed and get up at later times while eastward flights require going to bed and waking up earlier. Just from that statement, easterly flights are harder to overcome as going to sleep earlier is not that easy. (Health1). The adjustment rate for either direction is usually 1 to 1.5 hours a day. This means if you travel through 8 time zones east or west, it may take you 8 days to become fully synchronized with the time zone. When pilots experience jet lag the fatigue it causes may translate into errors in the cockpit and therefore jet lag can be the root cause of a dangerous situation. (Jetlag1) Westward flights as mentioned before require the person to delay their bed time, now, this is usually not a big deal as most people can just sit and watch TV or go on their laptop for a few hours before bed. The problem lies in the actually sleep itself. When a person that recently traveled west through however many time zones, goes to sleep, the first night includes more REM sleep in the first part than normal, however, this is usuallyShow MoreRelatedPilot Fatigue Essay1526 Words   |  7 Pagesairline pilot is most of the time described in terms of duties, job requirements, proficiency, training, employment opportunity, and good salary. These features picture a plain profile that fit into the specification of just an ordinary career. However, an aviation career comes with many challenges than expected. When focusing on statistics about being a pilot, it indicates a lifestyle that many inspire to work despite t he many challenges that face this career. The challenges that pilot face revolveRead MoreTo: Ms. Helen Soter, Instructor. From: Brandon Johnson,1622 Words   |  7 PagesFebruary 15, 2017 Subject: Negative Impact of Sleep Deprivation on Pilots Introduction Meeting the recommended hours of sleep per night is taught as a building block of success. However, certain professions and lifestyles may prevent an adequate sleep schedule. Airline pilots are often required to work busy and ever-changing schedules. Many pilots frequently travel across time zones and wake up for an early morning flight. Pilots often operate an aircraft even when he or she recognizes sleep deprivationRead MoreSleep Deprivation And Its Effects On Society Essay1730 Words   |  7 Pagessimply defined as the body’s rest cycle – a time to recharge. 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The water was falling so fast that you would have thought that it was going to battle Free Essays

The water was falling so fast that you would have thought that it was going to battle. The waterfall stabbed the cliff and in two and flowed out at the summit like a haemorrhage of white blood. The narrow flow of water widened as it fell, preparing to face the enemy. We will write a custom essay sample on The water was falling so fast that you would have thought that it was going to battle or any similar topic only for you Order Now The most noticeable thing about the water was the earsplitting sound that it made like giant cymbals in an orchestra, crashing together. However, after spending a while near the awesome waterfall you could no longer hear it. It was as if it had become a background scene in a story, which has been there from the start and will continue to be there until the end. A huge wall of rock surrounded the deep pool into which the waterfall plunged. It was there to protect what lay beneath, to stop intruders, and to conceal its secrets. Every now and then when I adjusted my weight a rock would crumble off the cliff side, like a soldier dying. After the initial impact I waited. A few seconds later the rock would at last plunge to its death in the deep pool waiting for it below. From the sound of the crack it felt like someone was following me, trying to scare me away and stop me from finding the secret. The cliffs had large cracks in them each one telling us a story from the distant past. The rocks gave off a bland smell which was still was very noticeable. It smelled old as if it was telling us all its history in one quick sniff. The rough valleys looked like large monsters ready to pounce on the water if it made any wrong moves. Every now and then I would look down at the astounding scenery below. One of the first things I would notice was the carpet of green spears below me ready to catch me when I fell. The trees also gave off a faint smell of fresh new bark which was very different to the dull, old smell of the rock that surrounded me. From where I was perched the birdsong was very distant yet my ears somehow focused in on it, as if wanting to hear it. It was the sweet, soulful love songs of the sparrows that sat on the tops of the large trees. The waterfall did not only give off an eardrum-bursting sound but it also gave off a cloud-like mist that engulfed the area. It was a very hot and humid day and this mist was the only thing that gave any relief form the extreme heat. The mist felt so cool against my sweaty skin that it was as if a ghost had just passed through me. One minute I felt a cool sensation pass through me and the next it was gone and the hot sweaty quality of the day returned once more. The sky was grey with dark patches and some blue patches as though it hadn’t decided what it wanted to be yet – whether to be a gorgeous day with the sun shining off the rocks or to pour and make everyone go inside. It was a typical autumn day – undecided, would it a cheerful sunny summer-like day or would be like a day in winter with a white blanket covering everything and causing us to curl up by the fire. Unfortunately it decided to be a mixture of both – wet and gloomy. I was completely drenched to the skin and my hands slid continuously over the slimy surface of the cliff. I was very near the top now and I had to struggle to keep my hands from slipping. I tried to find a foot hole in one of the large crevasses in the rock but the ones within reach were covered in slime and were very small. I had to use all my climbing ability to get out of this one. I eased my foot into the foothold and suddenly, the rock cracked. I had nothing to hold on to, nothing to grip. I began to fall faster and faster. As I fell I was got wetter and wetter and I felt as though I and the waterfall were one and the same. The water was falling so fast that you would have thought that it was going to battle. How to cite The water was falling so fast that you would have thought that it was going to battle, Papers

Tartuffe †A Monologue From The Play By Moliere Essay Paper Example For Students

Tartuffe – A Monologue From The Play By Moliere Essay Paper A monologue from the play by Moliere NOTE: This monologue is reprinted from The Dramatic Works of Moliere, Vol. II. Ed. Charles Heron Wall. London: George Bell Sons, 1898. CLEANTE: No, I am not a revered doctor, brother; no, all the knowledge of this world has not found its abode in me. I have merely the science of discerning truth from falsehood. And as I know nothing in the world so noble and so beautiful as the holy fervour of genuine piety, so there is nothing, I think, so odious as the whitewashed outside of a specious zeal; as those downright imposters, those bigots whose sacrilegious and deceitful grimaces impose on others with impunity, and who trifle as they like with all that mankind holds sacred; those men who, wholly given to mercenary ends, trade upon godliness, and would purchase honour and reputation at the cost of hypocritical looks and affected groans; who, seized with strange ardour, make use of the next world to secure their fortune in this; who, with great affectation and many prayers, daily preach solitude and retirement while they themselves live at Court; who know how to reconcile their zeal with their vices; who are passionate, revengeful, faithless, full of deceit, and who, to work the destruction of a fellow-man, insolently cover their fierce resentment with the cause of Heaven. We will write a custom essay on Tartuffe – A Monologue From The Play By Moliere Paper specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now They are so much the more dangerous in that they, in their bitter wrath, use against us those weapons which men revere; and their anger, which everybody lauds, assassinates us with a consecrated weapon. There are too many such mean hypocrites in the world; but from them the truly pious are easy to distinguish. Our age offers us abundant and glorious examples, my brother. Look at Ariston, look at Periande, Oronte, Alcidamus, Polydore, and Clitandre. No one will refuse them this title. They are no pretenders to virtue. You never see in them this unbearable ostentation, and their piety is human and tractable. They never censure the doings of others; they think there is too much pride in such censure; and leaving lofty words to others, they only reprove our actions by their own virtue. They do not trust to the appearance of evil, and are more inclined to judge kindly of others. We find no cabals, no intrigues among them; all their anxiety is to live a holy life. They never persecute the sinner, but they hate the sin. They do not care to display for the interest of Heaven a more ardent zeal than Heaven itself displays. These are people after my own heart; it is thus we should live; this is the pattern for us to follow. Tartuffe is not of this stamp, I know. You speak with the best intention of his goodness, but I fear you are dazzled by false appearances.

Racism in Football

Racism in Football Free Online Research Papers The topic that I have an interest in is racism in football. I am curious as to if there is still racism in the various levels of football in America. It seems that people still perceive certain players have to be a certain color and that’s just the way it has to be. The literature on the subject shows that there still is a stereotype of certain players and stereotypes of certain coaches. The same words seem to appear in most articles. Words like quotas, equality, and racial stacking. Most of the articles that I found seemed to believe that there was still a small amount of racism left in the National Football League among players and coaches and in the NCAA among coaches. One article I found mentioned the NFL’s colorblind tradition while talking about the affirmative action issues that arose in the leagues coaching ranks. This article went on to explain that the racism could go both ways sometimes. For example, the NFL runs a program exclusively for minority coaches so that they can gain valuable experience in the coaching profession. One white assistant coach in the NCAA has tried several times to gain admittance to certain NFL camps as a volunteer only to be turned away because he was white. The coach and the former commissioner of the NFL both agreed that â€Å"the principle of fair employment centers on the idea that employers should not hire less qualified or unqualified people while passing over members of minority groups who are more qualified.† (Franke) Other literature simply states the facts about the percentages of players in the National Football League who are white and who are black. Some of the percentages are quite amazing with over 90% of quarterbacks being white, while 90% of running backs are black. This is another one of the stereotypes that I mentioned in the above paragraph. White players are supposed to play certain positions while black players are supposed to play other positions. This stereotype comes from the belief that black players don’t have the intelligence to play certain positions on the field i.e. quarterback, offensive center, and middle linebacker. This is also the reasoning of why there are so few minority coaches in the NFL and NCAA. The common misconception is that they lack the intelligence to succeed and be winners in coaching. Why is racism still a factor in the NFL and NCAA? This is the question that I am going to try and answer in this paper. I feel that there still is racism in small amounts in the NFL and NCAA. Certain players are still stereotyped into certain positions regardless of skill level. The other questions that need to be answered are why traditionalists feel that only white players can play quarterback and be a head coach, and why non-traditionalists feel that only minority coaches deserve to have high ranking positions despite lack of production or experience. There is a question that Michael Kornblau had to answer everyday as the starting quarterback for Grambling State University, an all black university where the white students are considered to be the minorities. So you’re the new white Tiger? Kornblau hated hearing that question and hated even more when he had to answer it. Kornblau is the first white starting quarterback that Grambling has ever had. He also is the Tigers’ first Jewish Quarterback (Bamberger). This question posed to Kornblau poses an idea that should be asked of all football players and coaches. Is there racism in football in the 21st century? This is not the first time that Grambling state had to deal with this problem though. Back in 1968, Jim Gregory played quarterback at Grambling (although he never started) and he said that when he arrived he had a lot more trouble with the white community than the black community (Bamberger). The problems faced by Gregory and Kornblau are comparable to the problems that faced Marlin Briscoe in the late 1960’s. Briscoe was the first black quarterback in the NFL while playing for the Denver Broncos, and he said that â€Å"For black people, it was a test to dispel a myth that had been prevalent in society-that a black man couldn’t think, lead or execute. I knew there were certain aspects of the white community that wanted me to fail.† (Saraceno) Briscoe also stated that this racism had started long before he reached the NFL when his youth coaches wouldn’t allow him to play quarterback despite his abilities, he still owns the Broncos rookie record for touchdown passes. His journey eventually ended when his head coach for the Broncos held off-season quarterback meetings without making Briscoe aware. Briscoe asked for his release and never played quarterback again. These are just a few of the hardships that players had to deal with and are still dealing with in this decade. Only three years ago Rush Limbaugh made the now famous comments that Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was overrated because the media wanted to see a black quarterback succeed. This is partly true but not entirely true, for all its well-documented faults, big league sports epitomized a wonderful American ideal: that anyone-regardless of race, creed, wealth, upbringing, or zodiac sign-can make it to the top. Just be among the best performers (Franke). The significance of this study is to try and dispel the myths that football has built up over the years. To try and get away from the idea that only white players can play quarterback and only black players can play running back and that only white head coaches can be successful in their profession. There need to be equal opportunities in football and equal opportunities for all players. But there are a number of reasons why one might expect to find levels of racial discrimination lower in football than in other social institutions. Professional football has had a relatively long and voluntary history of racial integration compared to other occupations. Currently non-whites account for over 60% of all professional football players and it is difficult to think of another occupation with equivalent social rewards that is dominated by non-whites (Kooistra, Mahoney Bridges 1993). Kooistra goes on to say that despite these reasons, there is evidence that racism pervades professional sports. Studies have suggested that minorities are grossly underrepresented in management positions and in more prestigious player positions that are presumed to require leadership qualities such as intelligence, emotional stability, and a greater responsibility. Nonwhites instead are disproportionately located in positions demanding more innate athletic ability such as speed, quickness, or brute strength. Research Papers on Racism in FootballTrailblazing by Eric AndersonThe Hockey GameHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionWhere Wild and West MeetBook Review on The Autobiography of Malcolm XHip-Hop is ArtCapital PunishmentThe Masque of the Red Death Room meaningsComparison: Letter from Birmingham and Crito19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided Era

Medieval Methods for Making Fabric From Wool

Medieval Methods for Making Fabric From Wool In the Middle Ages, wool was turned into cloth in the thriving wool production trade, in home-based cottage industry, and in private households for family use. Methods could vary depending on the wherewithal of the producer, but the basic processes of spinning, weaving, and finishing cloth were essentially the same. Wool is usually sheared from sheep all at once, resulting in a large fleece. Occasionally, the skin of a slaughtered sheep was utilized for its wool; but the product obtained, which was called pulled wool, was an inferior grade to that shorn from live sheep. If the wool was intended for trade (as opposed to local use), it was bound up with similar fleeces and sold or traded off until it reached its final destination in a cloth-manufacturing town. It was there that processing began. Sorting The first thing done to a fleece was to separate its wool into its various grades by coarseness because different types of wool were destined for different end products and required specialized methods of processing. Also, some types of wool had specific uses in the manufacturing process itself. The wool in the outer layer of fleece was ordinarily longer, thicker and coarser than the wool from the inner layers. These fibers would be spun into worsted yarn. The inner layers had softer wool of varying lengths that would be spun into woolen yarn. Shorter fibers would be further sorted by grade into heavier and finer wools; the heavier ones would be used to make thicker yarn for the warp threads in the loom, and the lighter ones would be used for the wefts. Cleansing Next, the wool was washed; soap and water would usually do for worsteds. For the fibers that would be used to make woolens, the cleansing process was particularly stringent and could include hot alkaline water, lye, and even stale urine. The aim was to remove the wool grease (from which lanolin is extracted) and other oils and greases as well as dirt and foreign matter. The use of urine was frowned upon and even outlawed at various points in the Middle Ages, but it was still common in home industries throughout the era. Following cleansing, the wools were rinsed several times. Beating After rinsing, the wools were set out in the sun on wooden slats to dry and were beaten, or broken, with sticks. Willow branches were often used, and thus the process was called willeying in England, brisage de laines in France and wullebreken in Flanders. Beating the wool helped remove any remaining foreign matter, and it separated entangled or matted fibers. Preliminary Dyeing Sometimes, dye would be applied to fiber before it was used in manufacturing. If so, this is the point at which the dyeing would occur. It was fairly common to soak fibers in a preliminary dye with the expectation that the color would combine with a different shade in a later dye bath. Fabric that was dyed at this stage was known as dyed-in-the-wool. Dyes usually required a mordant to keep the color from fading, and mordants often left a crystalline residue that made working with fibers extremely difficult. Therefore, the most common dye used in this early stage was woad, which did not require a mordant. Woad was a blue dye made from an herb indigenous to Europe, and it took about three days to use it to dye fiber and make the color fast. In later medieval Europe, such a large percentage of wool cloths were dyed with woad that cloth workers were often known as blue nails.1 Greasing Before the wools could be subjected to the harsh processing treatment that lay ahead, they would be greased with butter or olive oil to protect them. Those who produced their own cloth at home were likely to skip the more rigorous cleansing, allowing some of the natural lanolin to remain as a lubricant instead of adding grease. Although this step was done primarily to the fibers intended for woolen yarn, there is evidence that the longer, thicker fibers used to make worsteds were also lightly greased. Combing The next step in preparing wool for spinning varied depending on the type of wool, the instruments available and, oddly enough, whether certain tools had been outlawed. For worsted yarn, simple wool combs were used to separate and straighten the fibers. The teeth of the combs might be wooden or, as the Middle Ages progressed, iron. A pair of combs was used, and the wool would be transferred from one comb to the other and back again until it had been straightened and aligned. Combs were usually constructed with several rows of teeth and had a handle, which made them look a little like a modern-day dog brush. Combs were also used for woolen fibers, but in the central Middle Ages cards were introduced. These were flat boards with many rows of short, sharp metal hooks. By placing a handful of wool on one card and combing it until it had been transferred to the other, and then repeating the process several times, a light, airy fiber would result. Carding separated wools more effectively than combing, and it did so without losing the shorter fibers. It was also a good way to blend together different types of wool. For reasons that remain unclear, cards were outlawed in portions of Europe for several centuries. John H. Munroe posits that the reasoning behind the ban could be a fear that the sharp metal hooks would damage the wool, or that carding made it too easy to fraudulently blend inferior wools into superior ones. Instead of carding or combing, some woolens were subjected to a process known as bowing. The bow was an arched wooden frame, the two ends of which were attached with a taut cord. The bow would be suspended from the ceiling, the cord would be placed in a pile of wool fibers, and the wooden frame would be struck with a mallet in order to get the cord to vibrate. The vibrating cord would separate the fibers. Just how effective or common bowing was is debatable, but at least it was legal. Spinning Once the fibers were combed (or carded or bowed), they were wound on a distaff a short, forked stick - in preparation for spinning. Spinning was chiefly the province of women. The spinster would draw a few fibers from the distaff, twisting them between thumb and forefinger as she did so, and attach them to a drop-spindle. The weight of the spindle would pull the fibers down, stretching them out as it spun. The spinning action of the spindle, with the help of the spinsters fingers, twisted the fibers together into yarn. The spinster would add more wool from the distaff until the spindle reached the floor; shed then wind the yarn around the spindle and repeat the process. Spinsters stood as they  spun  so that the drop-spindle could spin out as long a yarn as possible before it had to be wound up. Spinning wheels were probably invented in India sometime after 500 CE.; their earliest recorded use in Europe is in the 13th century. Initially, they werent the convenient sit-down models of later centuries, powered by a foot pedal; rather, they were  hand-powered  and large enough so that the spinster would need to stand to use it. It may not have been any easier on the spinsters feet, but much more yarn could be produced on a spinning wheel than with a drop-spindle. However, spinning with a drop-spindle was common throughout the Middle Ages until the 15th century. Once the yarn was spun, it might be dyed. Whether it was dyed in the wool or in the yarn, color had to be added  by  this stage if a multi-colored cloth was to be produced. Knitting While knitting wasnt wholly unknown in the Middle Ages, scant evidence of hand-knitted garments survives. The relative ease of the craft of knitting and the ready availability of materials and tools for making knitting needles makes it hard to believe that peasants didnt knit themselves warm clothing from wool they got from their own sheep. The lack of surviving garments isnt at all surprising, considering the fragility of all cloth and the amount of time that has passed since the medieval era. Peasants could have worn their knitted garments to pieces, or they may have reclaimed the yarn for alternate uses when the garment grew too old or threadbare to wear any longer. Far more common than knitting in the Middle Ages was weaving. Weaving Weaving cloth was practiced in households as well as in professional cloth-making establishments. In homes where people produced cloth for their own use, spinning was often the province of women, but weaving was usually done by men. Professional weavers in manufacturing locations like Flanders and Florence were also usually men, though women weavers were not unknown. The essence of weaving is, simply, to draw one yarn or thread (the weft) through a set of perpendicular yarns (the warp), threading the weft alternately behind and in front of each individual warp thread. Warp threads were usually stronger and heavier than weft  threads  and came from different grades of fiber. The variety of weights in warps and wefts could result in specific textures. The number of weft fibers drawn through the loom in one pass could vary, as could the number of warps the weft would travel in front of before passing behind; this deliberate variety was used to achieve different textured patterns. Sometimes, warp threads were dyed (usually blue) and weft threads remained undyed, producing colored patterns. Looms  were constructed to make this process go more smoothly. The earliest looms were vertical; the warp threads stretched from the top of the loom to the floor and, later, to a bottom frame or roller. Weavers stood when they worked on vertical looms. The  horizontal loom  made its first appearance in Europe in the 11th century, and by the 12th century, mechanized versions were being used. The advent of the mechanized horizontal loom is generally considered the most important technological development in medieval textile production. A weaver would sit at a mechanized loom, and instead of threading the weft in front of and behind alternate warps by hand, hed merely have to press a foot pedal to raise up one set of alternate warps and draw the weft underneath it in one straight pass. Then hed press the other pedal, which would raise the other set of warps, and draw the weft underneath  that  in the other direction. To make this process easier, a shuttle was used a boat-shaped tool that contained yarn wound around a bobbin. The shuttle would glide easily over the bottom set of warps as the yarn unspooled. Fulling  or Felting Once the fabric had been woven and taken off the loom it would be subjected to a  fulling  process. (Fulling wasnt usually necessary if the fabric was made from worsted as opposed to woolen yarn.) Fulling thickened the fabric and made the natural hair fibers mat together through agitation and the application of  liquid. It was more effective if heat was part of the equation, as well. Initially,  fulling  was done by immersing the cloth in a vat of warm water and stomping on it or beating it with hammers. Sometimes additional chemicals were added, including soap or urine to help remove the natural lanolin of the wool or the grease that had been added to protect it in the earlier stages of processing. In Flanders, fullers earth was used in the process to absorb impurities; this was a type of soil containing a significant amount of clay, and it was naturally available in the region. Though originally done by hand (or foot), the  fulling  process gradually became automated through the use of fulling mills. These were often quite large and powered by water, although smaller, hand-cranked machines were also known. Foot-fulling was still done in household manufacturing, or when the cloth was particularly fine and wasnt to be subjected to the harsh treatment of hammers. In towns where cloth manufacture was a thriving household industry, weavers could take their cloth to a communal fulling mill. The term fulling is sometimes used interchangeably with felting. Although the process is essentially the same,  fulling  is done to cloth that has already been woven, whereas felting actually produces cloth from unwoven, separate fibers. Once cloth was fulled or felted, it could not easily unravel. After  fulling, the fabric would be thoroughly rinsed. Even worsteds that didnt need  fulling  would be washed to remove any oil or dirt that had accumulated during the weaving process. Because dyeing was a process that immersed the fabric in liquid, it may have been dyed at this point, especially in home industries. However, it was more common to wait until a later stage in production.  Cloth  that was dyed after it was woven was known as dyed-in-the-piece. Drying After it was rinsed, cloth was hung up to dry. Drying was done on specially-designed frames known as tenter frames, which used tenterhooks to hold the cloth. (This is where we get the phrase on tenterhooks to describe a state of suspense.) The sturdy frames stretched the fabric so that it wouldnt shrink too much; this process was carefully gauged, because fabric that was stretched too far, while large in square feet, would be thinner and weaker than fabric that was stretched to the proper dimensions. Drying was done in the open air; and in cloth-producing towns, this meant the fabric was always subject to inspection. Local regulations often dictated the specifics of drying cloth in order to ensure quality, thus maintaining the reputation of the town as a source of fine cloth, as well as that of the cloth manufacturers themselves. Shearing Fulled fabrics- especially those made from curly-haired woolen yarn were often very fuzzy and covered with nap. Once the fabric had been dried, it would be shaved or  sheared  to remove this extra material. Shearers would use a device that had remained pretty much unchanged since Roman times: shears, which consisted of two razor-sharp blades attached to a U-shaped bow spring. The spring, which was made of steel, also served as the handle of the device. A shearer would attach the cloth to a padded table that sloped downward and had hooks to keep the fabric in place. He would then press the bottom blade of his shears into the cloth at the top of the table and gently slide it down, clipping the fuzz and nap by bringing down the top blade as he went. Shearing a piece of fabric completely could take several passes, and would often alternate with the next step in the process, napping. Napping or Teaseling After (and before, and after) shearing, the next step was to raise the nap of the fabric enough to give it a soft, smooth finish. This was done by grooming the cloth with the head of a plant known as a teasel. A teasel was a member of the  Dipsacus  genus and had a dense, prickly flower, and it would be rubbed gently over the fabric. Of course, this could raise the nap so much that the cloth would be too fuzzy and had to be sheared again. The amount of shearing and teaseling necessary would depend on the quality and type of wool used and the result desired. Though metal and wood tools were tested for this step, they were considered potentially too damaging for fine cloth, so the teasel plant was used for this process throughout the Middle Ages. Dyeing Cloth might be dyed in the wool or in the yarn, but even so, it would usually be dyed in the piece as well, either to deepen the color or to combine with the previous dye for a different tint. Dyeing in the piece was a procedure that could realistically take place at almost any point in the manufacturing process, but most commonly it was done after the fabric had been sheared. Pressing When the teaseling and shearing (and, possibly, dyeing) was done, the fabric would be pressed to complete the smoothing process. This was done in a flat, wooden vise. Woven wool that had been fulled, dried, shorn, teaseled, dyed, and pressed could be luxuriously soft to the touch and made into the finest clothing and draperies. Unfinished Cloth Professional cloth manufacturers in wool production towns could, and did, produce cloth from the wool-sorting stage to the final pressing. However, it was quite common to sell fabric that wasnt completely finished. Producing undyed fabric was very common, allowing tailors and drapers to choose just the right hue. And it was not at all uncommon to leave out the shearing and teaseling steps, reducing the price of the fabric for consumers willing and able to perform this task themselves. Cloth Quality and Variety Every step along the manufacturing process was an opportunity for cloth-makers to excel or not. Spinners and weavers who had low-quality wool to work with could still turn out fairly decent cloth, but it was common for such wool to be worked with the least possible effort in order to turn out a product quickly. Such cloth would, of course, be cheaper; and it might be used for items other than garments. When manufacturers paid for better raw materials and took the extra time required for higher quality, they could charge more for their products. Their reputation for quality would attract the wealthier merchants, artisans, guildsmen and the nobility. Although sumptuary laws were enacted, usually in times of economic instability, to keep the lower classes from garbing themselves in finery ordinarily reserved for the upper classes, it was more often the extreme expense of the clothing worn by the nobility that kept other people from buying it. Thanks to the diverse kinds of cloth manufacturers and the many types of wool of different levels of quality they had to work with, a wide variety of wool cloth was produced in medieval times.