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Simon Johnston
United Kingdom
6122 Posts |
 Posted - 23/07/2013 : 15:57:18
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| Does anyone know who actually manufactures double duck? Or Wigan? They are both readily available from the usual suppliers but I'm trying to find out more about the manufacturing process and would like to know who makes them. I've contacted a couple of retailers who are unable to help me. Does anyone on the Forum know? |
Edited by - Simon Johnston on 23/07/2013 15:57:46 |
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Oz34
United Kingdom
2538 Posts |
Posted - 23/07/2013 : 19:23:04
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Maybe they just don't want to tell you Simon; scared you'd cut them out!
Good luck,
Dave |
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Simon Johnston
United Kingdom
6122 Posts |
Posted - 23/07/2013 : 19:31:02
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| Believe me, I've no plans to go into the double duck business! This is strictly research for an article I promised Cat for next year's Year Book on J weather equipment. |
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LewPalmer
USA
3243 Posts |
Posted - 23/07/2013 : 19:34:12
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I believe that both fabrics are now simply generic names and probably manufactured by multiple companies. Double duck is a double layered material with a waterproof (rubber?) interliner. Wigan, to my poor memory, is a single layer cotton material coated with latex.
Lew Palmer
PA1169, PB0560 |
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Simon Johnston
United Kingdom
6122 Posts |
Posted - 23/07/2013 : 19:43:03
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| You're right, Lew, that double duck is a generic name. It simply means two layers of duck canvas with, as you rightly say, a rubber interlining. It would seem to be, and this is what I am trying to find out, essentially the same as the rubberised twill that MG referred to in the J sales brochure (except that twill is a diagonal weave cotton and duck has a plain weave). But I think Wigan (it seems to be usually used as a proper noun rather than a generic term) is essentially the same, but lighter weight. Certainly my Wigan hood feels and looks just the same as double duck, only lighter. But darned if I can find who makes them so as to confirm, one way or the other. |
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rodb
New Zealand
260 Posts |
Posted - 23/07/2013 : 21:07:18
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Years ago we had available in NZ a product referred to as Wigan Wigan supplied from the UK. It did not last in our climate so we stopped using it 1n the 1970's. We also obtained ready made hoods from Don Hoods from Memory. A C Winmill also supplied hoods then in Wigan Wigan, both did not last.
For your interest UK hoods from the MG Factory lasted only about 12 months exposed to NZ UV rays.
I obtained some Twill type product from a mill in Bradford in 1986 called John Foster and Son PLC "Black Dyke Mills" called Polyester/Draylon/Cotton.
This product is still on TA series MG's we restored then and is still in top condition today.
Hope this helps, I can try our NZ bulk importer to see if they can remember the Wigan UK supplier?
RodB NZ |
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Simon Johnston
United Kingdom
6122 Posts |
Posted - 23/07/2013 : 21:30:41
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Rod,
If you could find a name for the UK Wigan supplier that would be great. I have Wigan on my J2 and am very happy with it so this is purely research to try and find out exactly what Wigan is and how it differs from double duck.
And a related question: when did the term "double duck" first come into use as the name for rubberised cotton (which is what it is)? |
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John James
United Kingdom
963 Posts |
Posted - 23/07/2013 : 23:29:46
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Simon,
Tom Wilson in Indianapolis twilson@indy.rr.com has done a lot of research into Wigan and has a project on the go to supply T-Type hoods made from Wigan. |
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Simon Johnston
United Kingdom
6122 Posts |
Posted - 24/07/2013 : 04:47:59
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| Thanks for the suggestion, John. I'll follow up with Tom. |
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rodb
New Zealand
260 Posts |
Posted - 24/07/2013 : 07:57:44
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Simon
I will make some enquiries.
The term of Wigan Wigan as we knew it in the 1970's was cotton , volcanised rubber membrane, cotton. I have a sample of this from back then, it is quite stiff now as if the membrane has hardened. The weave direction of each outer layer is the same.
From my records and research during the mid 1980's the information below was gathered.
Another product was called RP 68 Double texture Mercerised cotton.
During the early 50's the production hoods were made from "Marino" then for a period of time V5 ORIGINAL IMPERIAL was used, also BROKEN TWILL was used, the common material was YT 212 CLOTH DUCK. Coventry Hood and Side Screens was the manufacturer of MG Hoods.
This info is possibly more in the T series era, John James may like to contact me to expand on this.
Duck could be a trade name or a type of weave used. Two outer layers could signal the term Double Duck?
RodB NZ |
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Simon Johnston
United Kingdom
6122 Posts |
Posted - 24/07/2013 : 08:18:25
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Rod,
Once again, many thanks. Your description of Wigan (Wigan) would suggest that it is more or less a lighter version of what is known as double duck. Is it a plain/square weave or a twill/diagonal weave? The term duck is just another word for plain weave (as opposed to twill weave) canvas,often with two warp yarns, so double duck is simply two layers of such canvas with the same vulcanized rubber interlining as Wigan. But it's not a term that seems to have been used pre war when such fabrics were known as rubberised twill or cotton (try Googling those terms and see the sort of web sites that come up!!!).
I've followed up with Tom Wilson at John's suggestion so hopefully I'll get some clarification on this in the coming days. |
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Gerhard Maier
Germany
873 Posts |
Posted - 24/07/2013 : 14:00:50
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Simon,
another Company producing a kind of double duck material since 1907 is the Haartz Corporation.
http://www.haartz.com/de/
The name of their material is "Sonnenland", which is widely-used not only for our type of cars, but also for many modern vehicles .
Gerhard |
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Simon Johnston
United Kingdom
6122 Posts |
Posted - 24/07/2013 : 19:02:09
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| Indeed, Gerhard, I've been in touch with both Doug and Eric Haartz about this but Sonenland is an acrylic fabric rather than a cotton and in fact at the moment Haartz don't make any cotton hooding - it's all acrylic. In the UK for some reason this type of fabric is known as 'mohair' - goodness knows why. Of course the well known benefits of such fabrics are that they don't fade and they don't shrink. But personally I think a bit of fading adds to the character of the hood. Hence my choice of Wigan. |
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Ian Bowers
United Kingdom
941 Posts |
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Blue M
United Kingdom
1472 Posts |
Posted - 25/07/2013 : 08:41:06
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Have you tried Boyriven.co.uk They were established in 1913 so have a long history as a supplier of automotive and marine fabrics. They supplied the covering for my M body and recently I bought double-duck from them. I'm sure they could help if you explain what it is you're trying to find out and why.
Ian |
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Simon Johnston
United Kingdom
6122 Posts |
Posted - 25/07/2013 : 09:21:07
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Many thanks for this suggestion, Ian (Judd) I'll follow up with them.
Ian (Bowers)', I've found that the US companies seem to do mainly the acrylic materials and certainly Haartz haven't been able to throw any light on Wigan or double duck as they have no experience of making them. Both materials seem to be of British origin. |
Edited by - Simon Johnston on 25/07/2013 09:25:14 |
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