P R O D U C E D F O R S T E I F F C L U B M E M B E R S

club magazine

Bears – unadulterated pleasure

From thread to plush –

100 years of Schulte mohair

6

C O - O P E R A T I O N S

The realm of threads – the warping shop

The mohair yarn is supplied byspinning mills in England andFrance. The bobbins thatcome from the spinning millsare small and easy to handle.Each one weighs around 2.5kg, but they are completelyunsuitable for large powerlooms. The yarn from thesmall bobbins is wound onto alarge bobbin (“warped”) in thewarping shop.

This large bobbin is referred toas a loom beam. The loombeam can be used on a powerloom and weighs an impressi-ve 500 kg. There are up to6000 threads wound next toone another on this beam andif they were all tied togetherthe overall length would amo-unt to 10.2 million metres.Once wound onto the beamsready for the next stage in theproduction process, themohair yarn then goes into theweaving mill.

Every shot a winner – the weaving mill

The deafening noise from thepower looms can be heardmiles away. All of the weaverstherefore have to wear earmuffs. The special feature ofmohair yarn is its three-dimen-sionality, i.e. unlike “normal”flat woven fabric which ismade of two threads referredto as warp and weft, plushfabric also has a third thread,the “pile”. The pile thread iswhat turns mohair plush into anapped, grippable fabric. Spe-cial machines are required toweave plush fabric. Schulte’spower looms are called “grip-pers”. Although the namesounds rather dangerous, itmerely refers to the way inwhich a thread is drawnthrough the weaving machinefrom right to left. The warpyarn is prepared in the powerloom as the first stage in the

weaving process. The warpthreads are all arranged nextto one another waiting to betransformed into woven fabric.The warp threads are then rai-sed and lowered so that theweft thread can be shot bet-ween them. This is also quiteharmless and has nothing todo with James Bond, but it’sstill very interesting and excit-ing! You see, this is where thegripper comes into its own. Itgrabs hold of a weft thread orshot, pulls it through the warpthreads as far as the middle ofthe loom, where another grip-per takes over and pulls thethread towards itself. The pilethread is woven in at the sametime. The entire process takes

From thread to plush, or “the stuff that Teddies are made on!”einhard Schulte GmbH has been producinghigh-quality fabrics, primarily from

natural mohair and alpaca yarn, in Duisburgsince 1901. Although the company’s maincustomers are the toy industry and the marketfor activity toys, the clothing and home textilesindustries also play an important role. Schulte employs 80 people and its sales figuresfor the year 2000 amounted to around 9 millionEuro with exports accounting for 45 %.

A large number of individual production stagesare necessary in order to process such a high-quality yarn as mohair. According to a companyspokesman, it is therefore important that theentire production process takes place on its ownpremises. Schulte is one of few companies in theworld to have its own weaving mill, dye shop and all of the facilities required to manufactureits products “under its own roof”. 100% qualitymade in Duisburg! So how is the “stuff thatTeddies are made on” produced? In the weaving mill

R

Warping shop with yarn beam

place in a flash. A Schulte grip-per manages “9,600 shotsper hour”. This explains whyit’s so loud in the weaving mill.

Two fabrics are always wovensimultaneously. This systemis referred to as the upper andlower works. Soon after com-pletion of the weaving operati-on, the fabric is cut down themiddle and the two webs arewound up separately at the loom. This terminatesthe weaving process and theloom-state fabric has beenproduced. Work’s not over yet,though, by any means! Wea-ving is a purely mechanicalprocess and can hardly beinfluenced at all, whereas thefabric has to go through thedye shop and the finishingplant before being given its final appearance.

No black looks in the dyeshop

Having passed the first qualityinspections – checking weightand flawlessness – the whiteloomstate fabric then goes tothe dye shop.

There are enormous dyeingtubs on either side of the ais-le and steam produces thickclouds of mist that make it dif-ficult to see anything in theroom. Large winches rotate in

the tubs, ceaselessly pullingthe fabric through water bathsthat have dye added to them.Thousands of litres of waterare needed to dye a 30-metre length of mohairfabric. The winches continueturning for 4 hours, pulling thefabric through the dye bathagain and again until the fabrichas been completely satura-ted by the dye which is nowfixed in the fabric. Previouslymixed with dye, the water inthe bath is almost clear again.Although the large winchdyeing machines are capableof accommodating 6 lengths of material, the smaller win-ches that can take just one or

2 length of fabric are beco-ming increasingly popular.After all every discerning Teddy would like to have his ownpersonal note. Schulte specia-lises in dyeing mohair plush inlengths as short as 30 met-res, which means the company can comply with the spe-cial wishes of its customers.There is no limit to the diversi-ty of colour. The current num-ber of recipes for differentcolours exceeds 2,500 andnew shades are added almostevery week. All dyes are gua-ranteed free of formaldehyde,they are colour-fast and fast tosaliva, of course, as well asbeing absolutely safe in ecolo-gical terms, which means thatthey are completely safe in thehands – and mouths – of child-ren.

The final touch – finishing

Once the fabric has beenwoven and dyed to the desiredcolour, the highly intensiveprecision work begins to givethe material its final touch. The mohair fabricis brought to life during thisfinal stage.

The mohair has to undergomore than 20 different finis-hing operations before ear-ning the title “Original SchulteMohair”. The challenge ofcreating a really good mohairplush is therefore found in thefinishing. The fabric is ironed –to make it supple, cropped(levelled) – to make sure thatall of the fibres are the samelength, napped – to open thefibre and make the fabric den-se, dried, batted, dressed – toensure that Teddy keeps hiscoat even when he gets older,stretched and dampened –and all of these operations arerepeated several times!

Apart from these standardprocedures, there are a num-ber of variations in the finis-hing process that are beco-

ming increasingly popular.After all, Teddy bears also want to be fashionableand follow the latest trends.Machines that have beencustom-built for Schulte arecapable of producing specialsurface structures, such aswrinkling, ratinée, tipping,wave and whirl effects, curly,antique or felting. But the fol-lowing rule applies here: “buy-

The loom

In the dye shop

Finishing machines

Quality control

ing a piano doesn’t meanbeing able to play one”. Suchhigh-quality mohair fabrics canonly be made by members ofstaff who know the machinesand fabrics inside out, who arereal masters of their craft andhave the necessary instinctivefeel for their work. At Schulte,the supreme rule is thereforeto train and look after loyal,experienced employees inorder to be able to meet thestringent quality requirementsin the future as well.

When the finishing toucheshave been added, the fabricgoes for a finished goods ins-pection. The fabric is inspec-ted over an illuminated panel,metre by metre, to ensure thatonly flawless materials leavethe premises with the “Original Schulte Mohair”seal of quality.

Schulte intends to make surethat its fur stays in fashion sothat Teddy bears will continueto feel happy and comfortablein the future.

Dear

Steiff Friends,

G i E N G E N , J U L Y 2 0 0 1

A well-known Duisburg company,Reinhard Schulte GmbH, is celebratingits 100th anniversary this year. Margarete Steiff GmbH would like to take this opportunity to offer its war-mest congratulations and looks forwardto continuing theharmonious co-ope-ration in the future.According to docu-mentary evidence,the business relati-onship between Steiffand the Schulte pilefabric weaving millgoes back as far as1904. There is a let-ter dating back tothis time, that Mar-garete Steiff wrote toReinhard Schulte,who founded thecompany in Duis-burg in 1901. This means that mohair

plush was already being pro-duced industriously in Duis-burg when the Teddy bear firstsaw the light of day in Giengenin 1902. We would like to paytribute to the fruitful co-opera-tion with one of Steiff’s most

long-standing suppliers in this issue ofthe Club Magazine. Read more aboutthe “stuff that Teddies are made on” onthe following pages.

Apart from this, we will be carrying youoff to the dream world of Ludwig II,inviting you to discover the new SteiffClub Internet pages and to listen towhat a passionate bear collector has tosay.

Summery regards

Inge Zinnecker · Steiff Club Manager

The Steiff centenary Teddy bear “Reinhard“. As a special editition to celebrate the 100th anniversary

of Reinhard Schulte company in 2001:

Since more than 100 yearsyour competent partner for Teddy plush

Reinhard Schulte GmbHHolteistraße 8, D-47057 Duisburg

Phone +49 (0)203/99 39 80Fax +49 (0)203/9 93 98 50

e-mail: service@schulte-mohair.dewww.schulte-mohair.de

CERTIFICATEIn 1902, Richard Steiff, a nephew of

Margarete Steiff, designed the first jointed Teddy bear. Mohair plush is an integral component of Teddy bear design

even today. Now a bear is being offered in honour of the company that has manufactured the plush for Teddy bears

for exactly one century: the Reinhard Schulte company, now celebrating its 100th anniversary.

The friendly partnership between Schulte and the Margarete Steiff GmbH is also exactly one century old.

The founders of the two companies, Margarete and Reinhard, worked together very closely, and Schulte is

Steiff’s mohair supplier even today.

The Teddy bear owes his name to the company founder himself: “Reinhard Schulte“. Like his namesake a hundredyears ago, Reinhard the bear exudes character and charm.

But his “cheeky“ demeanour also shows that a companysuch as Schulte didn’t always have it easy during the past

hundred years and that reaching a ripe old age meanskeeping the eyes trained forward.

Lovingly crafted by hand, this 35 cm Teddy bear is madefrom the world-renowned “Original Schulte Mohair“. He comes in green, the company’s signature colour,

which symbolises the natural composition and 100% environmental compatibility of mohair as material.

The Schulte scal of quality, which the bear proudly wears around his neck,

confirms this pledge.