How to soak buff and brown willow for weaving

15 August 2024

Buff willow and brown willow are very popular for weaving with – and both willow types need to be soaked before they can be used in any weaving project.

Whether you’re soaking willow for weaving a basket or another willow project, there are many variables to take into consideration: the weather, water temperature, and the length of time the willow has been stored all play a part. Soaking isn’t an exact science and it can be tricky to get right. Luckily, at Musgrove Willows, we’ve been honing the art of soaking willow for many years.

Read on for our top tips on how long to soak willow for weaving, and the best methods for soaking willow.

Before we start

A few things about soaking willow to bear in mind before we start:

Willow takes longer to soak on a cold winter’s day than on a hot summer one.
Using warm or hot water will shorten the soaking time.
If willow has been stored for a long period, it will take longer to soak.

1. How to soak willow

Whether you’re working with buff or brown willow, the best thing to use for soaking willow is a soaking bag. A soaking bag is easy to empty of water once the soaking is complete. Your willow can then mellow in the bag. Our heavy duty soaking bags are available in a range of lengths and widths and are supplied with simple instructions to help you get started.

Alternatively, willow can be soaked in a bath, trough or old paddling pool. Always ensure that the water is clean and fresh: if you are soaking buff willow and use water that has been previously used for brown willow, it will discolour the buff willow.

The willow will need to be weighed down to keep it submerged – do not use metal weights to do this, as they will mark the willow. Do not soak your willow in anything you’re precious about (e.g. your finest bathtub) as it is likely to end up stained.

Soaking buff willow

The times below are a guide to soaking buff willow in clean, cold water on an average temperature day.

Length of Rod	Soaking time
3ft	½ – 1 hr
4ft	1 – 1½ hrs
5ft	1½ – 2 hrs
6ft	2 hrs
7ft	2 – 2½ hrs
8ft	3 hrs
9ft	3½ hrs

Soaking brown (dried) willow

The times below are a guide to soaking brown (dried) willow in clean, cold water on an average temperature day.

	Black Maul & Noire de Villaine	Old French	Dicky Meadows	Flanders Red	Brittany Green	Caledendron	Whissender	Harrisons
3ft	3 days	3 days	2 days	4-6 days	3 days	5-6 days	4 days	3 days
4ft	4 days	4 days	3 days	6-8 days	4 days	6-7 days	5 days	4 days
5ft	5 days	5 days	4 days	8-10 days	5 days	7-8 days	6 days	5 days
6ft	6 days	6 days	5 days	10-12 days	6 days	8-9 days	7 days	6 days
7ft	7 days	7 days	6 days	12-14 days	7 days	9-10 days	8 days	7 days
8ft	8 days	8 days	7 days	14-16 days	8 days	10-11 days	9 days	8 days
9ft	9 days	9 days	8 days	16-18 days	9 days	11-12 days	10 days	9 days

2. Mellowing

Once your willow has been soaked (and steamed in some cases), drain the water and leave the willow to mellow overnight in the soaking bag. If you haven’t used a soaking bag, hessian, a damp blanket, or plastic sheeting do the job equally well. Willow should be left to mellow lying flat on the ground, not upright.

Mellowing is a very important part of the soaking process, as it enables the inner parts of the rod to become fully pliable.

3. Aftercare and resoaking

When working with willow, keep it covered to prevent the rods from drying out. Leftover willow can be kept covered for up to a week and still used. After this time, the willow will need to be dried thoroughly before being stored.

If willow is kept damp for too long (especially in warm weather) the willow will turn greasy and mouldy. The rods may also squash if used. If this happens, wipe the grease and mould off the willow, thoroughly dry the rods out, and repeat the soaking process (being careful not to leave them damp for too long).

Repeated resoaking of buff willow will cause the willow rod to lose its colour and, eventually, go black spotted. If a buff willow rod starts to get black spots, it is no longer usable. However, if only a few rods are affected, pull these out to stop the mould spreading. The rest of the rods should still be useable. Repeated resoaking of brown willow will cause the bark to peel and become greasy.

If rods split while being worked with, this could be down to oversoaking or the rods not being given enough time to mellow. To remedy this, stand the rods up to drain. Once they are dry to the touch, put the rods back under a damp hessian sheet (or blanket or plastic sheeting) to mellow.

Starting a willow project? We can help

At Musgrove Willows, we grow more than 60 different varieties of willow on our family farm on the Somerset Levels. We have lots of useful guides on our Help and Advice page on how to soak different varieties of willow, including:

Thinking of taking on a willow project? Why not sign up to one of our willow weaving courses to find out everything you need to know. Contact our friendly team for more information about any of our products.