What Are Huck Towels?
When you are looking for something to wipe up spills with you often grab a handful of paper towels. You are probably conscious of the cost and one-time use of paper towels but have yet to find a good alternative. Maybe you have tried microfiber towels but don't like the feel of them. Huck towels can be the solution you are looking for. Does this Spark an idea?
-
Also Known As
-
When you inquire about huck towels you may come up with a few different responses. In the medical field, huck towels are known as surgical towels. They are used most often in the operating areas to absorb moisture on surgical tools after they have been sterilized. Huck towel also refers to a type of embroidery where the fabric used is called huck toweling, Aida cloth or monk cloth. Then there are towels, either plain or fancy, made of huck toweling fabric. Whatever term is used, the fabric will be strong, not flimsy or lightweight. One side will have threads (part of the weave of the fabric) that are slightly raised on the surface. These raised threads facilitate doing embroidery work on its surface. Traditional huck toweling is white, but colors or colored borders are also available.
Why They're Special
-
You will find your huck towel is 100 percent cotton, very soft, very absorbent and virtually lint free. Both machine washable and dryable, it is often recommended that you wash and dry your new towel several times prior to use. The huck towels you use will withstand lots of use and repeated washing and drying. Keeping several on hand will soon become a necessity as you find dozens of ways to use them.
-
Uses
-
Once you start to notice them you will see them in many different places. If you have window washers come to your home or workplace, you may see them using huck toweling to dry and polish the windows, as they are absorbent and lint free. Car wash attendants use them for the same reasons when drying and polishing your vehicle. Craftspeople use the huck fabric in many different projects. You may even see them in a restaurant as place mats. Decorated huck towels are often used as hand towels in bathrooms and kitchens, as well as made into aprons. If you should be unfortunate enough to end up in surgery, huck towels will be on the trays holding the instruments.
Huck Toweling Embroidery
-
Huck toweling fabric is constructed in a way that makes it very easy to embroider. The side of the fabric you work on has a checkerboard layout of raised threads regularly spaced and arranged in rows. Needing only the huck fabric, a tapestry needle and embroidery floss (thread), designs can be quite simple or very detailed. The floss is passed under the raised threads to create the design. Because you do not puncture the fabric with the needle and floss (thread), your design is all on one side of the fabric, leaving the back side plain with no threads or knots.
Vocabulary
-
When you look for huck towels or toweling be aware of several terms that might be used in any discussion. Even weave indicates the fabric is composed of evenly spaced rows. If float is discussed, it is the threads that are parallel to the selvage edge of the fabric. The selvage edge is the finished edge of the fabric as opposed to its raw edge. Where the fabric has been cut is known as the raw edge and will unravel unless sewn.
-
