CLOTH FOR DOMINION

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 120, 16 February 1944, Page 8

CLOTH FOR DOMINION

Australia To Supply Order REVERSION TO DOUBLE WEFT SYDNEY. February 11. To fill an order of 500,000 yards o£ woollen and worsted cloth for New Zealand, Australian mills will revert to the manufacture of double weft instead ot the single weft which has applied to the manufacture of all woven cloth for civilian use in Australia for two and a halt One result, of the lifting , of the restrictions for the New Zealand order is a request backed by the Australian, M oo Board for a review of a recent Federal Cabinet decision not to allow betterclass cloths to be woven for civilians in Australia. The official reason given for rejection was that double weft manufacture would reduce production. lhe board has asked why. then, the standard cloth idea is not applied to the New Zealand order. While some of the mills are turning out a fair cloth even under the restrictions. others are exploiting the position. The life of clothes made from single weft materia] is much shorter than that from double weft. They also lose shape quickly, and the restricted number ot patterns permitted make the cloth more unattractive. Consequently the sale ot material has lagged and it is bought only as an urgent necessity. Worsted manufacturers claim that the restrictions have put back the industry 20 years when early attempts at proclucing a cloth created a prejudice against Australian materials. Since then, Australian mills have improved the standard. Before the war their products were equal to any in the world. This goodwill, it is feared, will have been lost through the restrictions.