There is hardly anything worthy of mention in the methods of the local weavers. These are extraordinarily simple everywhere, and form a remarkable contrast to the complications entailed by the more elaborate work done in the great weaving centres of the south. Where special patterns are embroidered on the loom, the warp is given the necessary changes by the laborious method of picking out with the hand, at each passing of the shuttle, the threads which have to be lowered or raised. The great majority of the weavers are Dévángas by caste. In Kottapalli and Múlapéta Pattu Sáles monopolize the work; while there are a few Padma Sáles in Cocanada taluk, some Sáles in Samalkot and Peddápuram, and some Karnabattus in the last-named place.
Tape for the cots so universally used in the district is largely manufactured, both in a number of scattered villages and in the Rajahmundry jail. It is woven from white cotton, and is of from half an inch to three inches in breadth. The work is usually done by Dévángas, but in the central delta Bógams (the dancing-girl caste), and elsewhere a few men of the Singam sub-caste of the Sáles are also engaged in it.
Gunny-bags are woven from hemp by a few Perikes in Vangalapúdi and Singavaram in the Rajahmundry taluk.
The dyed cloths for men already mentioned are sold in quantities in the district and are also exported by the Cocanada merchants to Bombay, Calcutta and Rangoon. The places best known for this dyeing industry are Gollapálaiyam (in Cocanada taluk), where some 70 men are employed, and Cocanada and Samalkot, where the number of workers is about 30. Most of them are Kápus, and the next most largely represented caste are the Tsákalas, or washermen. A few Rangáris and Velamas also assist. None of them weave the cloths themselves.
The most popular colours are red, dark blue, and pink, or 'rose' as it is called. There are three shades of red, two of blue, and several of pink. Aniline and alizarine dyes, bought in packets or casks, are always used. In Cocanada chay-root (sirivéru) was employed until recently for red, but was abandoned because it involved more trouble and expense than the imported dyes. Black is still made sometimes with iron filings.
The methods of dyeing are much the same as elsewhere, the cloth being treated with oil emulsified with the ashes of certain pungent plants, soaked in a mordant (generally a solution of gall-nuts or alum) and then boiled in a pot of dye
