WOOL & OTHER ANIMAL HAIRS

Wool is the dense, warm coat of sheep, also called a fleece. The hair of sheep has many unique properties that make it well suited to textile production, something humans realized approximately 8000 BCE, when sheep first began to be domesticated. Wool is used in a variety of textiles and can be found woven or knitted.

It pulls moisture away from the skin, wool has several qualities that distinguish it from hair or fur: it is crimped, it is elastic, and it grows in staples (clusters).Wool is favored for textile production because it is easy to work with and takes dye very well.

WHAT IS WOOL

STEPS IN PROCESSING WOOL TO YARN Step 1: Shearing:  In this process, fleece of the sheep is removed along with a thin layer of skin. Nowadays it is done by machines which are used by barbers to shave off hair. Shaving off the hair happens in the hot weather so that sheep can live without their protective coating.

Step 2: Scouring: After removing the fleece from the body of sheep, it is washed to separate dirt and grease from the fleece.

Step 3: Sorting: After the process of scouring, fleece is separated according to their texture. Hair of similar texture are kept at one side and the another type of texture in the other.

Step 4: Picking: After sorting the fleece, a fiber that is called burr

is picked out from the hair.

Step 5: Carding: It is a mechanical process that disentangles, cleans and intermixes fibers to produce a continuous web or sliver suitable for subsequent processing.

Step 6 : Dyeing: After carding and separating burrs, they are dyed in the required colour.

Step 7: Spinning: After dyeing wools, the fibres are then combed, straightened and rolled into yarns.

MICROSCOPIC VIEW OF WOOL

Hand spinners also use fiber from animals such as llamas, camels, goat, yak, rabbit. These fibers are generally used in clothing.

Animal Hairs

Merino wool

Mohair from angora goat

Alpaca

Cashgora

Cashmere Lincoln longwool sheep

Llama Rambouillet sheep

Some more animal hairs

Angora rabbit

Dromedery camelYak

USES OF WOOLThe major uses of wool is in garment production, but this fiber can be used for many other things. Around 80% of the world's wool goes into garments like sweaters, hats, pants, scarves, socks, gloves, mufflers, shawls and coats, leaving 20% to be used in some surprising and interesting ways.People have been utilizing wool for thousands of years for both decorative and functional purposes like stuffing for furniture, horse rugs, saddle cloths, carpeting, felt, wool insulation blankets, drapes, upholstery, table clothes and more.

ADVANTAGES

Warm Lightweight Wrinkle-resistant Fire-resistant Absorbent Dyes well Comfortable Durable Creases well Easy to tailor Strong Recyclable

DISADVANTAGES

Affected by moths Shrinks with heat and moisture Needs special care, dry cleaningAbsorbs odorsScratchy on skinWeakens when wetHarmed by bleach, perspiration

BIBLIOGRAPHY www.wisegeek.org www.blackberry-ridge.com www.goodhousekeeping.com www.ag.ansc.purdue.edu www.animals.mom.me http://en.m.wikipedia.org www.nwwoodsman.com www.reference.com

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