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Weaving & Spinning
PUTNEY, VT — September 30, 2026 — Nestled near the banks of the Connecticut River, Green Mountain Spinnery’s colorful yarn covers the entrance to its historic woolen mill headquarters in Putney, Vermont, a cheerful welcome to fiber artists and crafters alike. Green Mountain meticulously transforms raw wool into exquisite, finished skeins through a time-honored process.
But that process is dependent on something else time-honored: A five-foot Davis & Furber-Whitin carding machine that is over a century old. Built right here in New England between 1908 and 1918, the carding machine sits alongside other machines dating back to the mid-1940s and early-1950s.
About 10,000 pounds of wool goes through the mill a year. Imagine this machine made by two iconic Massachusetts companies has seen almost 1.1 million pounds of wool in its lifetime, and you can guess what kind of work it takes to maintain.
Keeping that antique machinery running smoothly is the job of Scott Matthews, carding operator and a nine-year veteran. For Matthews, machine maintenance and fine tuning is almost a daily devotional. And perhaps the most important part of that routine is lubrication.
Going Green in the Green Mountains
About a decade ago the spinnery transitioned away from traditional petroleum-based products seeking a cleaner footprint. They tried various eco-friendly solutions before finally settling on Renewable Lubricants, which exceeds performance standards. Today, the shop utilizes 1-gallon containers of Bio-Slide Way™ Lubricant—an ISO 68 lubricant—for transfer cases, sliding parts, and other moving surfaces. They also purchase 11-ounce aerosol cans of Bio-Penetrating Lubricant™—an NSF H1 food grade penetrant and light lubricant—for bearing shafts, and hard to reach spots. Bio-High Temp™ 180 E.P. Grease—a biodegradable lithium complex grease designed for high-temperatures, extreme pressures, and heavy duty applications—rounds out the products that the Spinnery purchases directly from the Renewable Lubricants website. This is used for bearings and wherever there are Zerk fittings.
“We use the lubricating oils on almost everything in our shop. We’re an old mill,” Matthews says. “We only have to oil the card every couple of days, and it lasts long enough. So, we’re not using this any more than we did with the petroleum-based oil, which is good.”
That can be a departure from the daily reapplication required of other green solutions. Throughout his intricate, single-shift 8-hour workflow, reliability is Matthews’ focus.
Efficient and Effective
Another place that applies is in replacement components. Original manufacturer parts are hard to come by after 100 years. With a combination mill drill press and lathe, the team handles its own custom fabrication to keep the vintage shop operational. They machine spares ahead of time to have on hand and rarely need to outsource solutions, Matthews says. That saves on shipping emis
