The Refining of Wool�
Although wool begins its life on a sheep on a farm , it becomes a raw material as soon as it is shorn and goes on to be sold and traded across the world as any other commodity would do . Naturally , it has to be refined before it can be turned in to product , and this is how it starts …
Wool is bought and sold commercially , and it is a major industry , which requires extensive understanding of the fibre and the processing stages of raw wool and the requirements of finished textile products .
Merchants buying wool at auctions need a comprehensive analysis of the wool so that they can judge if the wool is suitable for their customers . This is provided in a series of independently tested scientific results and will detail the length , strength , colour and , most important , fibre diameter — the micron . On purchase , the wool will go on to the scouring — this is the washing of the wool .
Why Wool has to be washed …
Sheep grow wool that is rich in natural oils , and before the wool can be turned into yarn or product , this has to be removed so it is thoroughly clean or scoured as the industry calls it . The industry calls pre-scoured wool greasy or often “ wool in the grease ,” and once the oils are removed , it is known as scoured wool or clean wool .
The key wool-growing countries of New Zealand and the United Kingdom will have scouring facilities to service their wool business . These are huge industrial and computer controlled operations that deal with millions of tons of wool in a year .
The development in this industry in recent years has made huge technical advances that have positioned the environmental considerations at the top of the list . They are energy efficient , recovering heat , recycling water , recycling waste residue — wool lanolin is used in many beauty products — and composting other materials .
The process of washing wool is done in hot water with detergent and will move through a series of bowls with wool being cleaned and then rinsed . This helps remove the non-wool contaminants as well as the wool grease and ends with the drying of the wool . At the end of this process , the weight of the wool will be 30 percent less than at the beginning , and the wool will be clean and ready for the next stage of the textile industry .
Right : Bales of wool arriving at the wool scourer ; far right :
The wool is washed repeatedly in specialized machinery .
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