What are the traditional manufacturing methods and three typical materials that form Johnston’s scarves?

Johnstons scarves made by traditional manufacturing method

Johnston’s produces everything from raw wool to finished products in its own factories, and each product is completed in about 30 processes. Scarves are produced at the Elgan factory, the company’s headquarters. There are three types of dyeing: top-dye (dyeing the raw wool), yarn-dye (dyeing the yarn), and garment-dye (dyeing the finished product), but Johnston’s almost always uses top-dye. In the 1850s, the development of scientific dyes, which are used today, made it possible to produce consistent and even dyeing. In order to create a variety of colors, dyeing technicians prepared dyeing recipes that matched the characteristics of the raw wool to produce a constant and infinite range of colors.

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During the spinning process, fibers entangled by dyeing are loosened and lightly coated with oil. Cashmere and merino wool are blended and multi-colored yarns are mixed in this process. It is at this stage that mixed colors, a traditional characteristic of Scottish textiles, are created. The weaving process begins with the placement of the warp yarns, and different weaving machines are used for different color patterns, such as plain weave and jacquard weave. Since the woven fabric is still rough in appearance, it needs to be finished by washing to remove excess oil and dirt. After drying, the fabrics other than cashmere are brushed with a very soft metal brush. Only cashmere products are raised using a thistle raising machine that uses thistle seeds, which gives the cashmere its unique flowing hair and more supple texture. This technique of using thistle nuts has not changed at all since the establishment of the company, and no substitute for it has been found even today, when technological innovation is advancing. It can be said that this is the reason why Johnstons cashmere scarves have a one-of-a-kind texture that cannot be found anywhere else.

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