"Handloom" gets used loosely, often interchangeably with anything that isn't obviously machine-made. But there are actually three distinct types of looms, and knowing the difference matters if you want to know what you're really buying.
Power loom: fully mechanized, makes polyester
A power loom is a fully automated machine. According to our weaving partner, it's typically used to produce polyester fabric — synthetic material, machine-run, at speed.
Shuttle loom: semi-mechanized, makes cotton and khadi
A shuttle loom sits in between — a mechanically assisted process, operated with a shuttle mechanism, typically used to produce cotton and khadi fabrics.
Handloom: the third category — genuinely made by hand
And then there's handloom — the category our sarees belong to, and the one this entire blog series exists to explain properly. We're still gathering more detail on this part directly from our weaving partner — check back, or explore the rest of our "Ask the Weaver" series for the full picture on how handloom is actually made, thread by thread.
