Ubertino da Carrara took particular pains to promote the wool industry. He favoured the construction of new workshops for wool cloth by exempting them from taxes and duties. On April 25, 1342 he ceded title to a piece of land near the mills at Ponte delle Torricelli to two Florentines, Giacomo del fu Caccia and Forca di Clario, on the condition that they build gualchiere, meaning facilities for 'fulling' wool cloth. After washing with soap and water and highly absorbent fuller's earth, to remove all oils and whiten the wool, the actual fulling mill was used to achieve felting, for a final product impermeable to water. The water-powered mills used wooden hammers to beat the cloth in a tub of liquors, so as to thicken and felt the fabric. The pieces of fabric were then 'pruned', meaning that the felt pile was trimmed to uniform height. They were then treated to take a sheen, and taken to 'nailers' who pulled the cloth to remove every fold. Finally, the fabric pieces were folded in quarters and pressed. There were other important gualchiere in Padua, including two dating to the 1 00s, at St. Maria in Vanzo and the monastery of St. Maria di Porciglia, and another founded by Ubertino in 1339 at Portello. Others were at Prato della Valley, developed under Francesco I, and at Pontecorvo and Terranegra.