# Weaving- Tension on Loom when not in use



## BAHope (Jun 17, 2014)

Good morning!
I received my very first loom for Christmas and am enjoying learning this fascinating process! I do have a question - should I release the tension on my rigid heddle loom when I am not using it? Thank you for sharing your vast knowledge and experience with a newbie!


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## msgran (Feb 12, 2011)

Yes!


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## deemail (Jan 25, 2011)

yes, just a notch or two...saves both warp from stretching and loom from warping because of stress


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## BAHope (Jun 17, 2014)

Thanks so much for the replies! I thought it was a good idea but couldn't find anything on the subject in my reading.


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## dtjacobson (Mar 25, 2012)

As a long-time weaver, I'm going to teach you the two most common words in the weaving world: IT. DEPENDS. There are so many variables to weaving--looms; yarns; techniques; weavers--that there are very few hard-and-fast rules (and even those can be bent). 

In this case, releasing the tension when you're not weaving depends on what type of loom you're weaving on, the quality of the loom construction, what fiber your warp is, and how long you're going to be away from the loom before weaving again. Even geography can play a role. Personally, I wouldn't worry about leaving an RHL under tension while I was at lunch, or even overnight on occasion, but I wouldn't leave it for a week, because RHLs aren't built to withstand a lot of tension for long periods of time. OTOH, the only time the tension gets released on my Mac (my favorite loom is a Macomber B-4E, nicknamed "Mongo") is when I'm advancing the warp. It doesn't matter if I'm weaving with cotton, silk, cottolin, or wool, as the "stretch" comes out in the wet-finishing.

The one fiber that shouldn't be left under tension is flax. Flax responds to changes in atmospheric humidity (it "relaxes" when damp or the humidity is higher), so a flax warp can't be left at a very high tension or the warp threads begin to snap as the flax dries out and begins to tighten up. Here's where geography makes a difference: if you're in an area with an extreme ocean influence (e.g., the "ocean" side of the San Francisco Peninsula), most of the time it's so damp you can get away with not releasing the tension on a flax warp when you go to lunch.


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## ilmacheryl (Feb 3, 2013)

I try to leave my rigid heddle loom in neutral when I'm not weaving.


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## BAHope (Jun 17, 2014)

Thank you! That is terrific information and so true to life - it just depends!

I have much to learn and appreciate the benefit of your experience. I am in the mountains of Virginia and right now we are expecting snow - not much influence from the ocean but it can be humid all the same.


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## sockyarn (Jan 26, 2011)

YES.


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