Cleaning the kilims in a fulling mill

Kilim drying after being through a fulling mill for cleaning in the Zagori region, Pindus, Greece
Every year when the weather gets warmer and the rain stops, sort of that is, we take the kilims to the “fulling mill” to get them cleaned and revived.
There are a couple in Kalpaki town, only a few kilometres from Central Zagori in Epirus, that operate all year round.

Some words about the Fulling Mills

Greek: nerotribe {νεροτριβή } or dristela {ντριστέλα}

Fulling is an ancient process by which cloth woven from raw sheep’s wool is cleaned by means of water.
With the invention of the Fulling Mill the process of fulling became simpler. River water is now channelled into the mill where the clothes are whirled under high pressure in a tank.
The process shrinks the loose fibres of the cloth, making it a denser fabric.

Following the whirling and rinsing, the cloths are stretched on racks to dry under the sun and the wind.

Grinding grain (corn or wheat) into flour in the water mills in Kalpaki village of Epirus… and trouts & flour

In parallel to the fulling of kilims, carpets, blanckets and other cloths, most of the mills in the area also farm trouts & grind grain (corn or wheat) into flour.

All with the use of the water in the area which is crystal clear and fresh right from the National park of Pindus nearby.