Originally uploaded to the Sealy MacWheely Instagram account:
For those of you who didn’t make it to see our wee waulking demo over the weekend here we are in action! Waulking the tweed is a traditional method of fulling (a form of felting) the newly woven web of fabric which closes up the gaps between the warp and weft threads and makes it more insulating, waterproof and suitable for turning into garments. Within the Gàidhealtachd this process was performed manually up until the 1950s and there is a wealth of tradition, superstition and folklore surrounding both the methods and the accompanying songs. I have previously written a blog post going into more detail about the purpose of waulking should you wish to learn more.
The fabric was woven by my wonderful friend @ludditepress in my Alba yarn specially for the festival and it was indeed waulked wet (not just a reenactment of the songs).
Last time I posted a video of us waulking we had a lot of comments about urine so for clarification -
YES stale urine was traditionally used in this process in order to clean the grease and dirt from the fabric.
NO we did not use urine in this demonstration for obvious reasons. Thanks to the wonders of soap this is no longer a necessity. ✌🏼
Also, there was indeed a waulking scene in series 1 of Outlander, filmed at the highland folk museum which I very much recommend visiting if you get the chance.