Washing and speck removal

Historically, the boiled white bark is placed in a sieve and laid in clean or running water. Each strip is lifted one at a time and placed on a slatted board, and any detritus or black bark is removed gently while washing. It’s at this time that the scum from the soda ash is removed. Then a handful, or roughly 10 strips are taken in at a time and wrung out, like a hand towel, and then placed in a pail. Currently, Shiroishi locals complete this step, but with different tools. These are bundles of cleaned bark