Wool Fibre | The Basic Things About Wool

What is Wool Fiber?
Wool is a protein fiber and it is produced by the animals known as sheep. It is unique fire with scales on its surface. Wool, is a multi-cellular fiber and very expensive in price.

Wool producers in the world:
1. Australia 2. Russia 3. New-Zealand 4. USA 5. UK 6. South-Africa 7. France 8.Turkey 9. Brazil 10. China 11.Oajustab 12.Canada 13.India 14.Etc.

Important Definitions About Wool:
Recovered Wool:- Re-using wool which has been made into yarns and fabric and even worn. Recovered wool of this short are usually mixed with fleece wool (New Wool) and used for low and medium quality fabrics /goods. There are three types of recovered wool. Such as-
1.Shoddy Wool
2. Murgo
3.Extract

All Wool:- A fabric or garment labeled as ‘All Wool’ is not necessarily made from new wool. It may contain a proportion of recovered wool. So, all wool is composed of recovered wool and new wool.

Virgin Wool:- Completely new wool or fleece wool is called virgin wool.

Lamb’s Wool:- The finest wool is obtained from young sheep. Lamb’s Wool clipped at eight months is very fine and of excellent quality.

Hog Wool:- When ship is 14 months old, the wool is stronger and thicker, is called hog wool.
Cross-bred Wool:- Crossing of merino with other sheep can produce cross-bred wool.

Production of Wool
Wool fibres grow from the small sacs or follicles in the skin of the sheep. The wool fibres grow in groups of 5-80 hairs and there are between 10000 and 22000 to the square inch.

Typical Hampshire sheep will have some 16-40 million fibres in its fleece; a Rambouillet between 29 and 97 million and an Australian merino may carry as many as 120 million individual wool fibres. These fibres grow on the average at the rate of about 1 inch in two months.

Shearing or Wool Fiber
Sheep are normally shorn of their fleece every year. On large stations, the fleece sremoved in one piece by ower operated clippers. In efficient hands, he sheep is pasrted from its wool in two and a half minutes. A first class shearer will get through 200 sheep a day, fromwhick he will remove a ton or more of wool. This type of wool is known as ‘fleece or clip wool’.

Innnediately after it has been removed, the fleece wool is skirted. This involves pulling away the soiled wool around the edges. Then the wool fleeces are graded by experts who judge the fineness, length. Color and other characteristics. Finally, the various grades asre packed into large sacks and sewn up into the bales of wool. Each bale contains about 300 lb of wool.

Wool Fibre Grading
One fleece (3-8kg) produces various qualities of wool fibres with number (1-14), yielding softened, finest and longest. Each grade is determined by 1. type 2. length 3. fineness 4. elasticity and 5. strength.