FAQ – Mirrix Looms

HOW DO I ASSEMBLE MY MIRRIX LOOM?

Mirrix Looms come fully assembled!

WHAT TYPES OF WEAVING CAN YOU DO ON A MIRRIX?

Mirrix Looms were designed as tapestry and/or bead looms. But they can be used for many other types of weaving such as: wire weaving, paper weaving, inkle weaving. Basically, you can weave anything on a Mirrix that requires high tension.

WHAT ACCESSORIES DO I NEED TO BUY WITH MY LOOM?

One of the great things about a Mirrix Loom is that, although you may want some of our accessories to enhance your weaving experience, you don’t need any to begin weaving! All you need is your loom, warp and whatever you’re weaving on it! (Plus whatever other basics you need like a nice pair of scissors, a beater or fork, a nice bead mat, etc.) If you’re using the shedding device, you’ll also need heddles (which connect the shedding device to your warp threads) which can be purchased, but you can also make them yourself!

WHY BUY INSTEAD OF BUILD?

All parts for Mirrix Looms are precision-engineered and cannot be purchased in a hardware store. It is not possible to build your own Mirrix Loom because so many of the parts are precision engineered either in our manufacturing facility or by other manufacturing facilities requiring the use of expensive milling machines and laser cutters.

HOW DO I FIGURE OUT WHICH SIZE LOOM I HAVE?
To determine which Mirrix Loom you have, simply measure the top beam of your loom from left to right. That number in inches is your loom size. Check out this blog post for more information.

WHAT IS A BOTTOM SPRING KIT?

The Bottom Spring Kit is an add-on accessory that attaches to the bottom bar of your loom. This warp coil helps organize your warps at the bottom of the loom, just as your warps are organized at the top. It is great for wide bead weavings as well as small-scale tapestry. If you are using the bottom spring kit, warping is exactly the same except you place your warps in the bottom spring exactly how you do so on the top springs.

WHEN USING THE BOTTOM SPRING KIT, WHEN CAN YOU REMOVE THE SPRING?

Remove the spring from the bottom spring kit when you need to advance your weaving. You need to leave it in place to weave your first rows. The point of the bottom spring kit is to make weaving the first row easier when weaving wide bead pieces or very fine tapestry.

WHAT IS THE EXTRA WARPING BAR KIT?

What is the Extra Warping Bar Kit? The Extra Warping Bar Kit was designed for two reasons. First, to eliminate warp waste by eliminating warp on the back of the loom and second to give you more room to bring your hands behind your warp. You can see a video of how to warp the Extra Warping Bar Kit here. If your goal is simply to save warp, this is the kit for you!

WHAT IS THE NO WARP-ENDS KIT

The No Warp-Ends Kit was made to eliminate having to finish warp ends on beaded pieces. It also saves warp, as you warp your piece exactly the size that you want your piece to be. Instead of having threads left at the ends of a beaded piece, with this kit you just have little loops that don’t need any more finishing. It is great for people making beaded pieces who don’t want to have to finish off their ends, the saving of warp is just an extra bonus!

CAN YOU USE A SECOND SHEDDING DEVICE ON THE LOOM?

Yes. You need to add a second set of wooden clips which will come with the second shedding device. To add the wooden clips, separate the two sections of your loom and remove the bushings that are in the bottom of the copper side bars. The bushings can easily be removed with pliers. Slip on the new wooden clips and replace the bushings.

MY LOOM HAS PLASTIC CLIPS. WHY?

You have an older Mirrix Loom. These plastic clips should work fine, but you can purchase replacement wooden clips if you'd like.

HOW LONG OF A PIECE CAN I WEAVE ON A MIRRIX?

The general rule is 1 1/2 times the length of the loom you own. (Note: Your weaving width is slightly smaller than the width of each loom.) You can check out the maximum weaving widths and lengths here.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A “WARP COIL” AND A “SPRING”?

Nothing. We use these words interchangeably to mean the spring at the top of your loom or at the bottom if you have a bottom spring kit.

WHAT SIZE LOOM CAN I USE IF I WANT TO WEAVE BOTH BEADS AND TAPESTRY?

All of our looms can be used for both bead and tapestry weaving. The Saffron Pocket Loom was designed as a tapestry loom, but you can weave beads on it as shown here.

WHAT IS A SHEDDING DEVICE?

The 8″ Lani Loom and larger looms are all available with shedding devices. (Although they do not need to be used.) This device can be used for both bead and tapestry weaving and helps make weaving faster and easier. Use heddles to attach the device to your warps and simply change its position up or down to raise or lower warps. You warp your loom differently if you are using the shedding device when you weave beads, so make sure you choose the correct set of warping instructions to the left.

WHAT ARE HEDDLES?

Heddles attach your shedding device to your warp threads. They are used only when weaving tapestry and bead weaving WITH the shedding device. Heddles can be either ordered pre-made or you can make them yourself! There are two sizes of heddles for Mirrix looms, one for a loom with an extended shed and one for a loom with a regular shed size. You can learn more about heddles here.

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN YOUR LOOM IS WARPED CORRECTLY?
There are several ways to know if your loom is warped correctly and several things to check:
-Turn your loom sideways and make sure that the thread does not cross inside and goes all the way around the loom. (The warp can NEVER cross inside because that would prevent you from being able to advance the warp.)
-Release the tension slightly on the loom. You should be able to lift up on the warping bar.
-If you are warping for bead weaving without the shedding device or tapestry weaving with the shedding device, make sure there is one string in every dent. If you are warping for bead weaving with the shedding device make sure there are two strings in every dent.

WHAT DO I DO IF, WHEN WEAVING TAPESTRY WITH THICKER WARP ON ONE OF THE LARGER LOOMS, MY SPRING WON’T STAY IN PLACE WHEN I ADVANCE THE WARP?
Tie the spring to the loom on either side (and in the middle if necessary) to hold the spring in place while you advance the warp.

ARE MIRRIX LOOMS ALLOWED AS CARRY-ON ON COMMERCIAL AIRPLANES?
Some people have brought their looms on airplanes but to be safe please contact your airline with this question.

HOW SHOULD YOU PREPARE YOUR BEADED TAPESTRY FOR HANGING?
One example of what you can do is to turn your thread ends over to the back of the tapestry. Attach sticky velcro and sew it down. Attach the other piece of velcro to a piece of wood. Hang.

HOW CAN I TRAVEL WITH A LOOM THAT HAS A (FIBER) TAPESTRY ON IT?
Just make sure your spring bar is in your warp coil (it should be anyway but it is really important that your warp threads stay in the warp coil). We also suggest putting rubber bands around the spring just to make sure everything stays in place. After you do that, simply reduce the tension on your loom, squish the loom and weaving down and pack! When you get to your destination put the tension back on and it should be good as new. Remove shedding device from clips and fold clips flat. If you don’t do that, your clips may break in transit.

MY SHEDDING DEVICE (WITH THE WOODEN CLIPS) IS SQUEAKING WHEN I USE IT. WHAT DO I DO TO STOP THIS?
Put a drop of WD-40 or olive oil on your finger and touch the top of shedding device. Then, turn it back and forth a few times until the squeaking stops.

WHAT HAPPENED IF ONE SHED ISN’T WORKING?
If you have put your shedding device on the loom and it seems one shed is better than the other (meaning, when you make one shed it seems to work well and when you make the other shed it doesn’t seem to work as well) you probably have a crossed heddle. Check to make sure all your heddles were put on correctly and that no heddle is catching on anything.

HOW DO I FIX A BROKEN WARP THREAD?
Loosen your tension. Cut an extra piece of warp thread. Tie that piece with a surgeon’s knot to one end of the broken warp. Tie another surgeon’s knot at the other end, making sure to put exactly the same tension on. The surgeon’s knots will not slip under tension. Re-apply your tension.

WHAT DO I DO WHEN I HAVE LOOSE SELVEDGE THREADS?
If you have loose selvedge threads (meaning the warp threads on the sides of your piece are looser than the rest) it may be because when tying off your warp you did not put enough tension on that final thread when you tied it to the warping bar. If you have a hard time tying a tight knot when you’re finished warping, it is helpful to loosen your tension slightly before you tie it. When your warp is under a lot of tension it can be very difficult to tie a knot and have that selvedge thread have the same tension as the rest of your warp.

WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOU CAN’T GET ENOUGH TENSION ON YOUR LOOM JUST USING YOUR HANDS TO TURN THE WING-NUTS?
The flat wrench that was included with your loom is designed to fit around that wing nut and give you the leverage you need to get the maximum tension possible on the Mirrix Loom.

HOW DO I CLEAN THE COPPER ON MY MIRRIX LOOM?
We’ve experimented with this and find that a great non-toxic solution is mixing lemon juice and table salt and rubbing it on the copper. We have also heard of customers using copper cleaner and even toothpaste to clean their looms!

WHAT DO THE NUMBERS THAT WARP COILS/SPRINGS ARE LABELED WITH MEAN?
The number that corresponds with a warp coil (e.g. ten dent warp coil) tells how many dents (spaces in the warp coil) are in one inch. This means there are ten spaces in an inch in a ten dent warp coil. You use different warp coils to space your warp differently for different sized beads or different thicknesses of warp and weft. (Note: EPI (ends per inch) is the same as DPI (dents per inch.)

WHERE ARE MIRRIX LOOMS MANUFACTURED?
Mirrix Looms are made at our facility in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, U.S.A. Learn about the Mirrix team here.

WHAT ARE MIRRIX'S RETURN AND EXCHANGE POLICIES?
You can find our return and exchange policies on this page.

CAN I VISIT THE MIRRIX STUDIO IN NEW HAMPSHIRE?
Our NH HQ is not open to the public, but Mirrix President Claudia Chase does teach private lessons there. If you’ll be in the area and would like a lesson, email elena@mirrixlooms.com.