Introduction to wool, fur, pelt and

specialty fibers with respect to

processing industry. Glossary of
terms of wool processing

DR.GOPAL PATRA
HOD & ASSTT.PROFESSOR
DEPTT. OF LPT, F/O-VAS
WBUAFS
 Sheep vary considerably in the
type of wool they produce.

Fine wool from Merino Carpet wool from a Karakul

One type of wool is not better than the other. They just have different uses.
Dog Fur
Rabbit Pelt
 INTRODUCTION
1. Wool is one of the important by-products obtained from
sheep.

2. In comparison to hair, it is more elastic, flexible and curly.

3. It influences the quality of wool because of its shrinking,

strengthening and felting conditions.

4. In the living condition, the outer wool scales are with wool
sweat (grease), wool soap or yolk called suint secreted
from special glands to keep the fibre in good condition.
5. The term wool refers to the whole fleeces, which
contain mainly three types of fibres.

1.Fine wool fibres generally have no medulla or hollow core

and keep on growing, e.g. Merino fibre has no medulla.

2.Hairs are continuously growing long fibres with medulla in

part of their length.

3.Kemps are those coarse as well as short fibres, which cease

growing at intervals and are shed into the fleece. Such fibres
have medulla throughout their length. The outer coat gradually
gets eliminated and the inner coat becomes wool, which is
seen in Merino, Romney and Lincoln. The kemp is therefore a
remnant of the original outer coat.
6. Vast quantities of wool, called shorn wool, are derived from shearing.

7. A fleece is a term denoting the whole coat of wool shorn from a sheep
at one time.

8. Much smaller quantities of wool taken off the pelt of the slaughtered
animal are coming forward from slaughterhouses, packing plants or
tanneries.

9. This type of wool is called pulled wool, in contradistinction to the shorn.

10. Wool as it comes off the sheep, whether shorn or pulled, is called raw
wool or grease wool. Such wool contains not only grease but
impurities of mineral and vegetable origin and suint.

11. The difference between clean and grease wool is called shrinkage.
This depends on the breed of sheep, husbandry nutrition, the type of
soil and so on. The buyer estimates the shrinkage and pays for clean
wool only.
 QUALITIES OF WOOL
1. Wool is porous and will absorb moisture more readily than any
other textile fiber.
2. It can absorb as much as 18% of its own weight in moisture
without even feeling damp.
3. Wool generates heat.
4. It is a superior insulator keening the heat of the body from
escaping and the cold air from entering of this quality.
5. Wood is light.
6. It is very elastic , the average fiber will stretch 30% of its normal
length and still spring back in shape.
7. Dye stuffs are less likely to fade.
8. It is durable
9. It is almost non-flammable. It will stop burning almost as soon as
it is taken away from flame .
10.Wool can be felted and melted easily
 SOME CHARACTERISTIC OF MAIN TYPES OF WOOL

No Wool type Use Fiber diameter Clean dry

(mµ) yield (%)
1. Fine Wool High quality, light 17-20 65-70
weight woolen
clothes
2. Medium wool Good quality, heavier 22-24 70-75
woolen clothes
3. Carpet wool* Carpets 25-32 80-90
 Medium Wool Carpet wool
Fine wool

Fine wool fabric

Medium Wool fabric Carpet wool carpet
 Specialty fibers with respect to processing
industry
Angora wool: is from the Angora rabbit. This soft
fiber is used in sweaters, mittens and baby
clothes.

Angora goat wool

Angora wool (rabbit)
Mohair: is from the Angora goat and is highly
resilient and strong. Mohair’s luster, not softness,
determines its value. Mohair is used in home
decorating fabrics as well as garment fabrics
including tropical worsteds.
Alpaca fleece: is very rich and silky with
considerable luster. It comes from the Alpaca.
Camel hair: is from the extremely soft and fine fur from the
undercoat of the camel. Camel’s hair can be used alone but
is most often combined with fine wool for over coating, top
coating, sportswear and sports hosiery. Because of the
beauty of the colour, fabrics containing camel’s hair are
usually left in the natural camel colour or dyed a darker
brown.
Cashmere :is from the Kashmir goat down. Separation of
the soft fibers from the long, coarse hair is tedious and
difficult, contributing to the expense of the fabric. The soft
hair is woven or knitted into fine garments and can also be
blended with silk, cotton, or wool.
 Glossary of terms of wool processing
1. Apparel wool: Wool suitable for manufacture into apparel
fabrics.

2. Bale: A highly compressed package of either grease or

scoured wool.

3. Belly wool: Wool which grows on the belly of sheep.

4. Black wool: Any wool that is black, brown or gray.

5. Blending: Mixing together of various grades and/ or

lengths of wool in either the raw or semi compressed state
to obtain a specific kind of yarn.
6. Blood grade: Originally used to describe the proportion of
Marino (fine wool) breeding represented in a fleece.

7. Break: A distinct weak place along locks in fleeces due to

restricted diameter in wool fibers, which is usually due to
illness and fever or severe stress.

8. Bright wool: Grease wool that is nearly white, showing

very little yellow color due to excessive yolk.

9. Britch or breech wool: Wool from the hindquarters of

sheep, usually the coarsest wool in the fleece.

10. Buck fleeces: Fleeces shorn from mature rams, usually

longer and coarser than ewe wool from sheep of the same
breed and with a characteristic ram odor.
11. Carbonizing: A chemical process used to remove
excessive vegetable matter (VM), such as burrs, from wool.

12. Carding wool: Short-stapled wool, suitable only for

manufacture of woolen yarn.

13. Carpet wool: Coarse wool, often from unimproved sheep,

used in the manufacture of carpets.

14. Clip: One or more fleeces, one season's production of wool

from a common source (ranch, county, state, etc.).

15. Clothing wool: Wool fibers that are too short to comb, used
in the manufacture of woolen yarn; frequently referred to as
carding wool
16. Colored wool: A term used to describe fleeces of sheep bred
specifically to produce naturally colored fibers primarily for
use by handcrafters.

17. Combing: A process in which long fibers are laid relatively

parallel and short fibers / (noil) are removed.

18. Coring: A method of sampling bales, bags, or fleeces of

wool. The cores (samples) are then processed to estimate
the clean wool Content (yield), diameter, and other factors,
such as type and quantity of vegetable matter.

19. Crimp: The natural waviness of wool fibers.

20. Crutchings: Wool removed from the area around the dock
and/or udder of sheep.

21. Defective: Wool with a fault that reduces its value, such as
damage by fire, water, or moths. Burry wool is often called
defective.

22. Density: The number of fibers grown on a given area of

the skin of sheep. The more fibers, the greater the density.

23. Felting: The property of wool fibers to interlock when

agitated in warm, moist conditions. This property results in
wool fabrics that shrink when washed in machines if not
treated to resist felting.

24. Fleece: All the wool shorn from one sheep at one time.
25. Fine: An American grade of wool originally applied to
fleeces of pure Merino breeding.

26. Harsh: Wool that lacks softness, feels wiry. Wool from the
British meat breeds is typical.

27. Heavy wool: Wool with a high proportion of impurities,

especially sand and dirt. A low yielding wool.

28. Kemp: Opaque, highly medulated wool fibers that shed

periodically, considered a serious defect.

29. Keratin: The type of protein found in hair, wool, hooves,

feathers, and horns.
30. Lamb's wool: Wool shorn from lambs; usually finer, shorter,
and softer than wool from the same breeds of mature sheep.

31. Luster: A natural gloss or shine caused by light reflection,

typical in mohair or wool from the long wool breeds.

32. Medulated fiber: Wool fibers that are hollow (have a

medulla) rather than solid, as in true wool.

33. Pelt: The skin of sheep, including the wool.

34. Plain: Wool with little crimp.

35. Pulled wool: Wool pulled from the skin of slaughtered

sheep
36. Scoured wool: Clean wool; wool that has been washed to
remove grease, soil. and suint.

37. Scouring: The process of removing grease, soil, and suint,

usually by washing in hot water and detergent. A mild alkali
is added in some situations.

38. Seedy: Wools containing seeds, usually from grasses

and/or weeds, that require carbonizing for removal.

39. Shearing: Removing wool from sheep.

40. Skirting: A procedure where the less valuable parts of

fleeces, such as bellies, stained pieces, sweat locks, and
neck wool, are removed from fleeces.
41. Sorting: Breaking a fleece into part or sorts based primarily
on fineness and length.

42. Sound wool: Strong wool, free of breaks or tenderness.

43. Staple: A term used two ways in wool production and

marketing: 1. A synonym for lock. 2. A length description
used in American wool marketing to describe the longest of
the length classifications for each grade.

44. Virgin wool: Wool fibers that have been taken directly from
sheep (shorn or pulled) and processed into yarn and/or
fabric.

45. Wool grease: A complex mixture of esters secreted by the

sebaceous (wax) glands in the skin of sheep.
48. Yield: The proportion of clean wool (at standard
conditions) present in a given amount of grease wool.

49. Yolk: A combination of sweat salts and wool grease

(waxes) deposited on wool from the sweat and wax
glands in the skin of sheep.
 Fineness – fiber diameter

Thickness of the wool fiber

Measured in microns (one millionth of a meter - µ)
 Fineness - fiber diameter

Long
Coarse Medium
Crossbred

Fine
$$$$

Thicker Thinner
> 40 µ < 17µ

Grade refers to the relative diameter of the wool fibers (fineness).

 Fiber diameter
Short, dirty

 Coarser

 Coarser
Britch
Breech
(hairy) 

Short, dirty, kinky

Polypay
 Vegetable matter (VM)
Any material of plant origin found in
the fleece (hay, grass, seeds, etc.)

High VM lowers yield.

 Tag
Wool that has manure attached to it.
 Lanolin
A natural oil extracted from sheep’s wool.

Used to make
ointments and
cosmetics.

Also called wool wax, wool fat, or wool grease.

Wool judging
 Wool judging score card
Characteristic Points
Estimated clean yield 35
Length 25
Quality or fineness 10
Soundness (strength) 10
Purity 10
Character and color 10
Total points 100

You will judge “like” (same type or grade) kinds of wool.

 Yield
The amount of clean wool that remains after
scouring. Expressed as a percentage.

Wool yield is quite

variable: 40 to 70%.

Long wools have higher

yields than fine wools,
due to less grease.

Bulky fleeces have

higher yields.

Clean wool yield = Raw wool – shrinkage (VM, grease, impurities)

Vegetable matter affects yield

Other contaminants: soil, dust, polypropylene from tarps, feed sacks,

and hay baling twine, paint, skin, external parasites, and foreign objects.
 Length
Staple length adds weight to the fleece
more than any other characteristic.

Look for uniformity of length

 Quality or fineness

Appropriate grade for breed or type.

Look for uniformity of grade (fineness).
Finer wools are permitted less variability.
 Soundness (strength)
Tender wool is wool that is weak and/or
breaks due to poor nutrition or sickness.

This wool does not have a break or tender spot.

 Purity
Freedom from pigmented fibers, hair and kemp.

Black fiber/hairs
Hair
Kemp

From a hair sheep The commercial wool

market favors white
wool that can be dyed
any color.
 Character
General appearance of a fleece:
crimp, handle, and color.
Weathered tips
Affects dyeing

“Tippy” wool
 Wool classing
Grades at the Maryland Wool Pool
2008 price
Grade Type of wool
per lb.
Choice white-face Wool from fine wool and their crosses: Rambouillet, $ 0.76
Merino, and Targhee; some Corriedale, Columbia,
and Polypay
Medium white-face Wool from white-face medium wool meat breeds: $ 0.55
Dorset, Cheviot, Texel, Montadale, etc.
Coarse white-face Wool from long wool breeds: Romney, Border $ 0.49
Leicester, Lincoln, Cotswold, etc.
Non white-face Wool from breeds with dark fibers and color hairs $ 0.47
on their faces and legs: Hampshire, Suffolk,
Shropshire, Southdown, Tunis and speckled-faced
sheep.
Short Less than 3 in. length. Lamb’s wool, tags, belly $ 0.39
wool, old wool, dirty wool, tender wool,
Black or gray wool or fleeces from hair sheep or their crosses are not accepted.

Wool sold to the niche (specialty) markets typically brings a lot more money.