Activity Books Wool & Sheep Activity Book

HOW DOES WOOL BECOME CLOTHING? Sheep are sheared in the spring. Their wool or fleeces are put in large sacks and sent to a woolen mill for processing. The fleeces are washed to remove dirt, grass and lanolin. After the wool is clean and dried, it is combed or carded. Carding makes the fibers straight. The next step is spinning the wool into yarn. There are two types of yarn - woolen and worsted. Woolen yarn is used to make carpets or thick sweaters. The worsted yarn is knitted or woven into cloth that is used to make shirts, dresses, suits and other woolen garments. Weaving is the process of forming cloth or fabric by interlacing the strands of yarn. HOW CAN WOOL HELP THE ENVIRONMENT? Wool is also being used to benefit the environment. It is being used to soak up oil from oil spills. The nice thing about wool sponges is that oil can be cleaned out of the sponge. The oil is recycled and the wool sponge is used over and over again. Wool can clean up 10 to 30 times its weight in oil. Wool is also used as mulch around trees and plants. In some places seeds are placed in wool mats and used to grow grass and plants along new highways. Because wool is a natural fiber, it is biodegradable which means it will be decomposed or broken down by nature. How well did you read? What does carding do? ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ How can wool help the environment? ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Wool is the only fiber that naturally resists flaming. 15

Activity Books Wool & Sheep Activity Book | Page 17