[Concerning a piece of cloth measuring] three [handbreadths] by three [handbreadths] that was torn, if when being placed on a chair the flesh [of the one sitting on the chair] touches the chair, it is tahor; otherwise, it remains tamei. [Concerning a piece of cloth] three [fingerbreadths] by three [fingerbreadths], from which one thread was worn out, or on which a knot or two threads were found lying alongside each other, it is tahor. [A piece of cloth] three [fingerbreadths] by three [fin- gerbreadths] that was thrown into a trash heap is tahor. [If] it was retrieved, it is [susceptible to] tumah. Invariably, throwing it [into the trash heap] renders it tahor and retrieving it renders it [susceptible to] tumah, unless it is purple material or fine crimson. R’ Eliezer says: A patch of new cloth is similar to them. R’ Shimon says: They are all tahor. They were not mentioned except in regard to the return of a lost article.

[A piece of cloth measuring] three [fingerbreadths] by three [fingerbreadths] that was placed inside a ball, or it itself was made into a ball, it is tahor. But [a piece of cloth measuring] three [handbreadths] by three [handbreadths] that was placed inside a ball is tamei. [If] it itself was made into a ball, it is tahor, since the stitching diminishes it.