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1. Belgian Waffle towel -
6. Heirloom : All looms are fitted with a robby, which allows for the geometrical patterns, woven checks, stripes and hundreds of other combinations to happen. -
4. Hand-plotted on graph paper : Once a pattern is chosen, Stuart will plot it out the old-fashioned way. This will show the pattern and, with numbers, indicate the sequences that will be punched into a pattern card. A sample is then woven on the 19th-century restored power looms. -
3. Local materials : The correct yarn for a specific product is sourced. The South African-grown carded cotton is relatively course with a short staple and correct twist, therefore more absorbent for products like towels. -
7. Warp and weft : The art of weaving is simply threads that run in the warp and the weft of a machine. The warps are the threads that run length ways and the weft goes back and forth across the warp carried by a shuttle. -
5. Spin a yarn : Before the actual weaving can start, the spun yarn is put on to a warping machine. All the threads are on cones and will go through tensioners and gatherers and are finally wound onto a weavers beam. -
2. Meet the man : Mungo’s founder Stuart Holding decides on a new product and weaving pattern for each range. He often consults the antique weaving books he has been collecting for the last 40 years for inspiration. -
8. Preshrunk and finished : All dyes used are the best available and comply with current environmental legislation. Once washed and made into a product, it’s tested through regular use and given a name (not just a number!).
In a world where time and handcraft have come to be equated with luxury, you don’t get much more indulgent than Mungo’s range of bed- and bathware. With their new Belgian Waffle towels arriving just in time for the change in season, we had a look behind the scenes at their creative manufacturing process.
Douglas Adams fans will fondly recall the heroic role of the towel in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: “A towel … is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have.” And, in the case of Mungo’s new Belgian Waffle towel, also one of the most massively attractive things an interstellar hitchhiker can have.
Made of pure cotton, individually sampled and woven on antique Hattersley looms in a working weaving museum, Mungo’s new soft, super absorbent Belgian Waffle towel will keep you skin-to-skin with luxury long after a steamy bath or dip in the pool. Its light weave allows air to flow through the surface so it dries fast and will fit in that tight little corner of your bulging holiday bag.
Moreover, the Mungo Waffle is not just any old mass-produced towel, with Mungo’s founder Stuart Holding himself involved in the production of these crafted wonders. Browse through the gallery above as Stuart takes us behind the scenes.
Mungo, Old Nick Village, Plettenberg Bay, 044 533 1395, www.mungo.co.za
