Knitting needles came in different types, with more than 2,000 needles fitted into each machine. While most knitting needles cost around $2, the most expensive sold for $9 and had to be imported from Japan, Germany or Taiwan. If a machine operated 24 hours a day, needles had to be replaced every 12 months or so.
Warning devices were installed on knitting machines. If a loom’s cotton thread was cut off, the alarm light would turn on and the loom would cease working in order to stop holes appearing in the knitted fabrics. Once the workers fixed the cotton threads on the reel again, the loom could restart.
A knitting machine made by the “Wah Luen Textile Machinery Fty. Ltd.”. The label was marked with the size of the machine, model number, serial number and date of manufacture.
Finished grey fabrics were bound in a roll, tied with a small white cloth on which information such as the fabric serial number and customer name were written.
