Waulking the Cloth
The dry cloth is very stiff, and needs to be softened enough for someone to be able to cut their cloth in the way that they choose. The fibres can also be tightened together to give the cloth a little more thickness.
The whole length of cloth, still damp and smelling of ammonia, is looped around the length of a long table. This part is most often done outdoors, because of the ammonia smell. If a long table isn't available, a wooden door or two might be taken off their hinges so a table can be fashioned.
People sit all around at the table and push the cloth over the rough surface of the wood, forward and back. Then they pass their section to the person next to them, and pick up what they have been passed: once again, they move the cloth forward and back over the rough wood.
This friction softens the fabric, and tightens the fibres. The process is also called fulling and has much in common with making felt.
The cloth will thicken and tighten, and can lose an inch or two of width during the waulking. (It also loses the smell of ammonia.)
When it is deemed to be ready, the cloth is rolled up and briefly beaten by all hands, to finalise the process.
There is a ceremonial broadcloth made specially for everyone's coming-of-age celebration, and it is waulked in a sacred ceremony.