MOLESKIN AND COR'DIIROY are varieties of fustian (q.v.), a term which is used in to generic sense to include also velveteen, velveret, thick-set, thick-set cord, beaverteen, and other stout cotton cloths for men's apparel—a class of goods largely manufactured in Lancashire. The general structure of these fabrics is described under FUSTIAN and VELVET. They are, in point of fact, all of the nature of velvet, with a nep or pile on the surface, aid most of them are twilled.
When cloth of this kind leaves the loom, its surface is covered with loops like Brussels carpet, and these are then cut open with a ripping knife of a peculiar shape,, which the operatives learn to use with great dexterity. The hairy and uneven appearance which the cloth acquires in this operation is subsequently improved by the shearing process. The cloth is next steeped in hot water, to get rid of the paste used in dressing the yarn, and is then ready to be passed through the brushing or teaseling machine, which consists of blocks of wood with concave surfaces covered with card-brushes, working backwards and forwards in a lateral direction against wooden rollers, encased in tin plate, over which the cloth passes. The tin plate is made rough with the burs of punched holes.. In the next operation, the fustian is singed by passing the nap side quickly over a red hot metal cylinder. The brushing and singeing are repeated three and occasionally four
times, to give the cloth a smooth appearance. It is then washed, bleached with chloride of lime, and dyed—usually of some shade of olive, slate, or other quiet color.
The different names given to fustian cloths depend upon their degree of fineness, and the manner in which they are woven and finished. Thus, smooth kinds, of a strong twilled texture, are called moleskins when shorn before dyeing, and beaverteens when cropped after dyeing. Corduroy, or king's cord, is produced by a peculiar disposition of the pile-threads. In all fustians, there is a warp and weft thread, independent of the additional weft-thread forming the pile; but in corduroys, the pile-thread is only "thrown in" where the corded portions are, and is absent in the narrow spaces between them.
Until a comparatively recent period, the quhntity of fustianoloths annually consumed in the British islands must have been very large, but the increased price of cotton, and the introduction of cheap woolen fabrics, have now very much curtailed the use of them. They are still, however, largely worn by certain classes of mechanics and laborers.