Hello all - I am nearing the end of weaving a twill structure on an 8/4 cotton warp. I have noticed an issue with the plies in the right hand floating selvedge becoming 'unplied' so that the whole floating selvedge thread is becoming weakened. I did the usual trawl around possible sources of information and the one that seemed most logical to me was that the repeated movement of the shuttle from right to left, going over the floating selvedge is causing this unravelling to happen. The solution suggested was, rather than following the usual 'over going in, under going out' for the shuttle re. Floating Selvedge, instead I should pass the shuttle UNDER the floating selvedge, both on entering and exiting the shed, when throwing from right to left.....and then pass the shuttle OVER the floating selvedge, both on entry and exit when throwing from left to right. I will try this, but just thought I'd see if any of you have tried this approach. N.B draw-in is not the problem, as I have very little of that. Thanks.

Katherine - Just wondering - is your floating selvage a tied-on version or a thrown-over-the -back-beam-dangling version? The reason why I ask is that in the past I have used a yarn which inexplicably untwisted, frayed and generally disintegrated over weaving a long warp.
I replaced the floating selvage with the same yarn but as a weighted flung over the back beam style - and I had no further problems at all.

Hello Diane- interesting question....my floating selvedge was wound on with the rest of the warp and then weighted with S hooks and some large metal washers. I am very interested to hear that the alternative option of the thrown-over-the -back-beam-dangling floating selvedge eliminated the problem. The method I outlined in my first post does seem to have resolved the problem, but it might be preferable to be able to use the standard ' shuttle over the floating selvedge going into shed and under coming out' method, as it is a smoother and more straightforward technique overall. My main reason for starting winding the floating Selvedge on with the rest of the warp was, as is often the case, a mixture of laziness and convenience, as it means I don't need to go near it again to adjust it etc. However, now that you have mentioned your experience, I think I will definitely try the TOTBBD floating selvedge method and see how I get on!! Thank you for your help.