Where does wool come from? - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Where does wool come from?

Please enjoy the information about wool. Be ready to use this information in class.Slide2

Sheep

shearing is the process by which the woolen fleece of a sheep is cut off. After shearing, the wool is separated into 4 main categories: fleece (which makes the vast bulk), broken, bellies, and locks. The quality of fleeces is determined by the technique known as wool classing, whereby a qualified person called a wool classer groups wools of similar grades together to maximize the return for the famer or sheep owner.

Harvesting the WoolSlide3

In Australia, before being auctioned all Merino fleece wool is objectively measured for

micron, yield (including the amount of vegetable matter), staple length, staple strength, and sometimes color and comfort factor.Harvesting the wool,

con’t

. Slide4

Wool

Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including

cashmere

from

goats

,

mohair

from goats,

Q

iviut

from

muskoxen

,

vicuna

,

alpaca

and

camel

from animals in the camel family, and

angora

from rabbits. Wool has several qualities that distinguish it from hair or fur: it is

crimped

, it is elastic, and it grows in a

staple

(cluster).Slide5

Characteristics

Wool’s scaling and crimp make it easier to spin the fleece by helping the individual fibers attach to each other, so that they stay together. Because the crimp, wool fabrics have a greater bulk than other textiles, and retain air, which causes the product to retain heat. Insulation also work both ways; the

Bedouin

and

Tuareg

(Nomads) people use wool clothes to keep heat out.Slide6

Characterists

, con’t.The amount of crimp corresponds to the fineness of the wool fibers. A fine wool like Merino may have up to 100 crimps per inch, while the coarser wools like

karakul

may have as few as 1 to 2.

Hair by contrast, has little if any scale and crimp, and little ability to bind into yearn. On sheep, the hair part of the fleece is called

kemp

.

The relative amounts of kemp to wool vary from breed to breed, making some fleeces more desirable for spinning,

felting

or

carding

into

wool batting

for quilts or insulating products including famous

Tweed

cloth of Scotland.Slide7

Scouring

Wool straight off a sheep, known as “grease wool” or “wool in the grease” contains high levels of valuable lanolin, as well as dirt, dead skin, sweat residue, pesticides and vegetable matter. Before the wool can be used for commercial purposes, it must be

scoured,

a process of cleaning the greasy wool.

Scouring may be as simple as a bath in warm water, or as complicated as an industrial process using detergent and alkali, with specialized equipment.Slide8

Scouring,

con’t.In commercial wool, vegetable matter is often removed with a chemical carbonization. In less processed wools, vegetable matter may be removed by hand, and some of the lanolin left intact through use of gentler detergents.This semi-grease wool can be worked into yarn and knitted into particularly water-resistant mitten or sweaters, such as those of the

Aran

island fishermen.

Lanolin removed from wool is widely used in cosmetic products such as hand creams.Slide9

Production

Global wool production is approximately 1.3 million tones per year, of which 60% goes into apparel. Australia is the leading producer of wool which is mostly from Merino sheep. New Zealand is the 2nd largest producer of wool, and the largest producer of crossbred wool.

China is the 3

rd

largest producer of wool.Slide10

Production

con’t.Breeds such as Lincoln, Romney, Tukidale, Dryable and Elliotadale produce coarser fibers of wool, which is usually used for making carpets.

In the U.S., Texas, New Mexico, and

C

olorado have large commercial sheep flocks and their mainstay is the

Rambouillet

(or French Merino).

Small hobby flocks of specialty sheep for hand-spinning offer a variety of a selection of fleece.

Fiber diameter

is the single most important wool characteristic determining quality and price.Slide11

Yarns

Shoddy or recycled wool is made by cutting or tearing apart existing wool fabrics and re-spinning the resulting fibers. As this process makes the wool fibers shorter, the remanufactured fabric is inferior to the original.The recycled wool may be mixed with raw wool, wool noil, or another fiber such as cotton to increase the average fiber length. Such

yarns

are typically used as

weft

yarns with a cotton

warp

.Slide12

Yarns

con’t.The process of recycling wool was invented in the heavy Woollen District of West Yorkshire and crated a micro-economy in this area for many years.

Ragg

is a sturdy wool fiber made into yarn and used in many rugged applications like gloves.

Worsted

is a strong, long-stapled,

combed

wool yearn with a hard surface.

Woolen

is a soft,

short-stapled,

carded wool yarn typically used for knitting. In traditional weaving, woolen weft yarn (for softness and warmth) is frequently combined with a worsted warp yarn for strength on the loom.Slide13

Wool Fibers

Wool production and use dates back approximately 10, 000 years ago to Asia Minor. People living in the Mesopotamian Plain at that time used sheep for three basic human needs: food, clothing and shelter.As spinning and weaving skills developed woolens became a greater part of people’s lives. The warmth of wool clothing and the mobility of sheep allowed people to spread civilization beyond the warm climate of Mesopotamia.Slide14

Wool Fibers

con’t.Between 3000-1000 BC the Persians, Greeks and Romans distributed sheep and wool throughout Europe. The Romans took sheep everywhere they built their Empire, including the British Isles.From here the British took sheep to all their colonies.Slide15

The process of making

“Wool” into “Yarn”SheepRaw WoolSlide16

Process

con’t.Woolen YarnWoolen Dress

Woolen Blanket Slide17

Pashmina

Pashmina refers to a type of fine cashmere wool and the textiles made from it, first invented in India.The wool comes from

C

hangthangi

or

P

ashmina

goats, which is a special breed of goat indigenous to high altitudes of the Himalayas in Nepal, Pakistan and northern India.

Pashmina

shawls are hand spun,

woven

and embroidered in

K

ashmir, and made from fine cashmere fiber.Slide18

Sources for this

ppt came from:Gourave Singhand can be found at:http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/ajoysingh-1410298-wool/