Wool processing

People have been using wool for thousands of years. The sheep was one of the first animals people domesticated when they gave up their nomadic lifestyles and settled down to become farmers. The woollen trade is also one of the oldest in the world, and has a fascinating history, especially in the Industrial Revolution of Europe and Britain.

In all that time, the technology people have used to process wool has changed greatly, but many of the basic techniques have not. So, even today, mills use techniques that are based on very old ways of processing wool. A New Zealand home spinner or Nepalese rug maker will still wash, card and spin their wool into yarn using some of the same basic techniques that a modern Italian mill making high fashion clothing will.

Along with old techniques, there are old names and terms. Arcane terms such as slubbings, gilling, weft and warp, drawing and noil are still all in common use today, although you won’t often hear them in day-to-day conversation outside the wool industry.

Basic techniques

The basic techniques of wool processing are the same, regardless of the end product. Essentially the wool is washed in hot, soapy water (i.e. scoured) to remove dirt, grease and other impurities such as sweat. It is then carded to separate the fibres from each other, take out any tangles and clumps, break up staples, and align the fibres so they are ready for the next process. The carded fibre is spun on machines that twist the wool and draw it out into yarn, which then goes into products such as hand knitted garments, carpets or business suits.

The wool processing techniques described here are:

• Scouring – washes the wool before further processing.
• Carding – breaks up clumps of fibre.
• Gilling – starts to blend fibres and align them for semi-worsted or worsted spinning.
• Combing – straightens up fibres for spinning and removes short fibres and vegetable matter to produce tops.
• Reducing (or Drawing) – reduces thickness of tops before spinning
• Spinning – final process that creates the yarn.
• Dyeing – a science and an art!

Woollen or worsted?

Most New Zealand wool is made into yarn, using woollen, semi-worsted or worsted yarn.

Worsted yarn consists of long fibres that lie parallel, so that the materials made from it are smooth and lean, and stronger than woollens. Semi-worsted yarn is made using some of the worsted system’s features to make a strong smooth yarn that is stronger than woollen yarn, but not as soft as worsted. In woollen yarn, there are long and short fibres lying in different directions, so that the woollen fabrics on the whole are harsher to the touch, more rugged to look at, and warmer that worsteds.

Typical worsteds are high quality outer clothing (such as suits), clothing worn close to skin (such as woollen shirts or underwear), and many hand knitting yarns. Semi-worsted products include tufted carpet and outer knitwear. Typical woollen fabrics are blankets, tweeds and coat materials.

The term “Worsted” comes from the little village of Worstead in Norfolk, England. In the Middle Ages, its people made large quantities of this smooth-faced wool material.

Next: Scouring