WOOL
According to Wikipedia, wool is fibre derived from the fur of animals of the Caprinae family – sheep and goats, especially sheep. Unlike silk, it is formed of the protein ‘keratin’ and it has two qualities that distinguish it from hair or from fur: it has scales that overlap like tiles on a roof and it is crimped (the natural wave of wool fibre).
The tiny overlapping wool fibre scales allow the wool fibres to repel rain and spilled liquid with ease. The natural crimp helps the fibres to retain their shape and wool fibres can be stretched and then readily bounce back into shape. Wool is a natural fibre and a renewable resource and organic wool is almost non-allergenic. Much of wool sensitivity appears to come from the scouring agents, synthetic dyes and chemicals used in non-organic wool production and not from the wool itself. The large variety and number of breeds of sheep come in a very wide range of colours even without natural dyes. Wool accepts dyes readily, however, and the combination of the great variety of wool types combined with the range of potential natural dyes results in an almost limitless combination of possible shades and hues. Most of the world's finest wools for commercial textiles are currently produced from descendants of Spanish merino sheep but during the Middle Ages, England produced Europe's finest wools. Spanish wool was then of very poor quality and did not start to compete with mid-range English wools until the middle of the fifteenth century. |
SURFACE STRUCTURE-
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Wool Fibre from Mazadul Hasan |
Wool fiber from Mazadul Hasan |
ADVANTAGE OF WOOL FIBRE
Characteristics -
Wool's scaling and crimp make it easier to spin the fleece by helping the individual fibers attach to each other, so they stay together. Because of the crimp, wool fabrics have greater bulk than other textiles, and they hold air, which causes the fabric to retain heat. Insulation works both ways: Bedouins and Tuaregs use wool clothes to keep heat out and protect the body. Felting of wool occurs upon hammering or other mechanical agitation as the microscopic barbs on the surface of wool fibers hook together. The amount of crimp corresponds to the fineness of the wool fibers. A fine wool like Merino may have up to 100 crimps per inch, while the coarser wools like karakul may have as few as one or two. In contrast, hair has little if any scale and no crimp, and little ability to bind into yarn. On sheep, the hair part of the fleece is called kemp. The relative amounts of kemp to wool vary from breed to breed and make some fleeces more desirable for spinning, felting, or carding into batts for quilts or other insulating products, including the famous tweed cloth of Scotland. Wool fibers readily absorb moisture, but are not hollow. Wool can absorb almost one-third of its own weight in water.[3] Wool absorbs sound like many other fabrics. It is generally a creamy white color, although some breeds of sheep produce natural colors, such as black, brown, silver, and random mixes. Wool ignites at a higher temperature than cotton and some synthetic fibers. It has a lower rate of flame spread, a lower rate of heat release, a lower heat of combustion, and does not melt or drip;[4] it forms a char which is insulating and self-extinguishing, and it contributes less to toxic gases and smoke than other flooring products when used in carpets.[5] Wool carpets are specified for high safety environments, such as trains and aircraft. Wool is usually specified for garments for firefighters, soldiers, and others in occupations where they are exposed to the likelihood of fire.[5] Wool is considered by the medical profession to be hypoallergenic. Quality
Various types and natural colors of wool, and a picture made from wool The quality of wool is determined by its fiber diameter, crimp, yield, color, and staple strength. Fiber diameter is the single most important wool characteristic determining quality and price. Merino wool is typically 3–5 inches in length and is very fine (between 12 and 24 microns).[9] The finest and most valuable wool comes from Merino hoggets. Wool taken from sheep produced for meat is typically more coarse, and has fibers 1.5 to 6 in (38 to 152 mm) in length. Damage or breaks in the wool can occur if the sheep is stressed while it is growing its fleece, resulting in a thin spot where the fleece is likely to break.[10] Wool is also separated into grades based on the measurement of the wool's diameter in microns and also its style. These grades may vary depending on the breed or purpose of the wool. For example:
The finest Australian and New Zealand Merino wools are known as 1PP, which is the industry benchmark of excellence for Merino wool 16.9 microns and finer. This style represents the top level of fineness, character, color, and style as determined on the basis of a series of parameters in accordance with the original dictates of British wool as applied today by the Australian Wool Exchange (AWEX) Council. Only a few dozen of the millions of bales auctioned every year can be classified and marked 1PP.[12] |
Processing -
1. Shearing Sheep shearing is the process by which the woolen fleece of a sheep is cut off. After shearing, the wool is separated into four main categories: fleece (which makes up the vast bulk), broken, bellies, and locks. The quality of fleeces is determined by a technique known as wool classing, whereby a qualified person called a wool classer groups wools of similar gradings together to maximize the return for the farmer or sheep owner. In Australia and New Zealand, before being auctioned, all Merino fleece wool is objectively measured for micron, yield (including the amount of vegetable matter), staple length, staple strength, and sometimes color and comfort factor. 2. Scouring Wool straight off a sheep, known as "greasy wool"[6] or "wool in the grease", contains a high level of valuable lanolin, as well as dead skin, sweat residue, pesticides, and vegetable matter. Before the wool can be used for commercial purposes, it must be scoured, a process of cleaning the greasy wool. Scouring may be as simple as a bath in warm water or as complicated as an industrial process using detergent and alkali in specialized equipment.[7] In north west England, special potash pits were constructed to produce potash used in the manufacture of a soft soap for scouring locally produced white wool. In commercial wool, vegetable matter is often removed by chemical carbonization.[citation needed][8] In less-processed wools, vegetable matter may be removed by hand and some of the lanolin left intact through the use of gentler detergents. This semigrease wool can be worked into yarn and knitted into particularly water-resistant mittens or sweaters, such as those of the Aran Island fishermen. Lanolin removed from wool is widely used in cosmetic products such as hand creams. Production -
Global wool production is about 1.3 million tonnes per year, of which 60% goes into apparel. Australia is the leading producer of wool which is mostly from Merino sheep. New Zealand is the second-largest producer of wool, and the largest producer of crossbred wool. China is the third-largest producer of wool. Breeds such as Lincoln, Romney, Drysdale, and Elliotdale produce coarser fibers, and wool from these sheep is usually used for making carpets. In the United States, Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado have large commercial sheep flocks and their mainstay is the Rambouillet (or French Merino). Also, a thriving home-flock contingent of small-scale farmers raise small hobby flocks of specialty sheep for the hand-spinning market. These small-scale farmers offer a wide selection of fleece. Global woolclip (total amount of wool shorn) 2004/2005[28]
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