Paraires and draperia (wool cloth making) — Traditional craft of Mallorca

What it is and technique

The paraire prepared the wool for weaving and finished the cloth: he combed, carded and perxed it. It also organized the work of spinners and weavers; He was the entrepreneur of draperia, the great industry of medieval and modern Mallorca. This sheet covers the guild and tools; The product is in flassades and trowel blades .

Process step by step

1. Rent the wool.

2. Embed: spread it, oil it and prepare it for carding, with the embedding card (the large one).

3. Card with the primer card.

4. Filar (filadores) and teixir (teixidors).

5. Draping in the mill: mallets that hit the cloth in water to drape it.

6. Perxar: hang the cloth on the perxa and brush it to lift the hair.

7. Tondre / lower the hair with large scissors.

Forms and objects

Tools: see cards and tisores d'abaixar .
Escut dels paraires: a pair of cutting scissors between two cards (vault key of his chapel in Santa Creu, Palma).
Cloths, cordellats, flassades.

Vocabulary

paraire: who prepares the wool and finishes the cloth (from Latin parator, "preparer").
carda: board with a leather-covered handle bristling with wire spikes.
carda emborradora / emprimadora: the thick one for preparing; the fine one for carding.
emborrar: prepare the oiled wool for carding.
perxar: hang the cloth on the perxa and card it.
molí draper / batan: mallet mill for fulling the cloth.
tondre / abaixar: trim the hair from the cloth.
«Tenedors, toneu ran ran, que es paraire no se queix»: shearing song, Mallorca.

Geography

Palma: main col·legi.
Part Forana: own col·legis in Artà, Inca, Manacor, Pollença, Llucmajor, Felanitx and Sóller.
Molins drapers next to torrents (doc. 1315).

Short story

1315: oldest known ordinations; one of the oldest colleges on the island. Same year: document of a “draper mill”.
1342: patron Saint Praxedis; At the end of the century, Sant Bartomeu.
1379: altarpiece from its chapel in Santa Creu, by Llorenç Torquella and Pere Marçol.
1387: ordinance on the preparation of cloth.
1589-1596: the areas of Artà (1589), Inca (1590), Manacor and Pollença (1596) are segregated.
1664 / 1684 / final s. XVII: Llucmajor, Felanitx, Sóller.
16th-17th centuries: internal differentiation: poor teachers become employees of the rich (Deyá, The manufacture of the trowel to modern Mallorca, 1998).

State

Disappeared as a guild. The artisan repertoire preserves "paraire" without inscriptions in Mallorca (consultation 10/13/2026). Local wool lives in flassades and in Mallorcan ovella initiatives.

Why is it design

The escut as a process diagram: scissors + cards = cloth finishing.
Distributed industry: the paraire organizes a chain of work in houses and mills.
Certified quality: lead seals on the cloths (see llauners i estanyers ).

For the project

Visit the chapel of the paraires in Santa Creu (Palma): escutcheon and tombstone.
Read Deyá (1998) and Rafael Morro's TFG, Els gremis tèxtils de Mallorca al segle XVIII (UIB).

Frequently asked questions

What is Paraires and draperia (wool cloth making)?

The paraire prepared the wool for weaving and finished the cloth: he combed, carded and perxed it. It also organized the work of spinners and weavers; He was…

Who practises Paraires and draperia (wool cloth making) in Mallorca today?

The Balearic Islands Crafts Register lists 15 artisans linked to this craft, in Palma, Consell, Alaró, Campos, Llubí.

What are the traditional words for Paraires and draperia (wool cloth making)?

Some words: carda, carda emborradora / emprimadora, emborrar, molí draper / batan, paraire, perxar, tondre / abaixar, «Tenedors, toneu ran ran, que es paraire no se queix».

Sources

Working text from the Disseny Indígena knowledge base, machine-translated from Spanish.

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