The linen trade in Loka territory also stimulated the development of the dyeing or 'firbarska' trade. In written records this trade is mentioned for the first time in 1673 when the dyers from Škofja Loka, Tržiè and Radovljica joined the Ljubljana branch of the Dyeing Trade Guild in Kranj. In dyeing as a cottage industry, farmers in the country were also engaged. In the 18th. and 19th. centuries throughout Loka territory there waere most 'firbarski' workshops in Škofja Loka (1752 five, 1840 six), individual ones operated also at Gorenja vas, Žiri and Železniki. Loka's dyeing masters and assistants were also gaining knowledge from Bohemia and Moravia, Germany and Austria. At first they just dyed the linen, then in the 19th. century they started to also print patterns on it. Printed linen was intended mainly for aprons and scarfs. With the regression of the domestic linen trade from the middle of the 19th. century onwards, the 'firbarji' also had less work. Because of the import of cheaper, industrially-made cotton, the dyeing trade died away entirely at the beginning of the 20th. Century.
•  photo.: Dyeing trade Collection (D/610)
• photo.: A merchant selling dyed linen. A detail from the Sv. Nedelja fresco on the church at  Crngrob near Škofja Loka, around 1460. (M/4054)
•  photo.: Dyeing trade (Gaberšèik)