Types of Textiles
(Contd. from page 3...)
Wool
Woolen fabric is made from the fleece of sheep.
History of the use of wool:
Wool was probably the first animal fiber to be made into cloth. The art of spinning wool into yarn developed about 4000 B.C. and encouraged trade among the nations in the region of the Mediterranean Sea.
The first wool factory in England was established in 50 A.D. in Winchester by the Romans. In 1797, the British brought 13 Merino sheep to Australia and started the the country's Merino sheep industry.
There are 40 different breeds of sheep in the world producing a rough estimate of 200 types of wool with varying standards. The major wool producers in the world are Australia, Argentina, China and South Africa.
Production of Wool:
The processing of wool involves four major steps. First comes shearing, followed by sorting and grading, making yarn and lastly, making fabric.
In most parts of the world, sheep are sheared once a year, in early spring or early summer. The best wool comes from the shoulders and sides of the sheep.
This is followed by grading and sorting, where workers remove any stained, damaged or inferior wool from each fleece and sort the rest of the wool according to the quality of the fibers. Wool fibers are judged not only on the basis of their strength but also by their fineness (diameter), length, crimp (waviness) and colour.
The wool is then scoured with detergents to remove the yolk and such impurities as sand and dust. After the wool dries, it is carded. The carding process involves passing the wool through rollers that have thin wire teeth. The teeth untangle the fibers and arrange them into a flat sheet called a web. The web is then formed into narrow ropes known as silvers.
After carding, the processes used in making yarn vary slightly, depending on the length of the fibers. Carding length fibers are used to make woolen yarn. Combing length fibers and French combing length fibers are made into worsted yarn.
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