Flax and hemp plants had to lose the woody part that makes up the stem, since the textile fibre (thread) is contained inside. To achieve this goal, the plants were macerated (maceration) and then dried (drying) and then processed with special tools, such as the fiber brake (gramolatura), the scotola (scotolatura) and the combs (combing), aimed at separating the fibres from the woody part (freeing the thread).
In the case of hemp, given the considerable diameter of its stem, the use of the fiber brake (gramola), scotole and combs was preceded by the "scavezzatura", breaking of the hemp stems every 50 cm.