From Fibres to Wool: Process, Properties and Extraction

Shearing, scouring from sheep, sorting, dyeing, straightening, rolling, and combing are steps to process fibres to wool. Shearing is the first step in the wool processing process, and it entails removing the sheep’s fleece and a thin layer of skin.

Fibres and wool protect us from the factors of heat, cold, and rain. Have you ever wondered what materials are used to make clothing? Have you ever attempted to extract a thread from a sari or other type of clothing fabric? What is the name of this item? Let’s look at how wool is turned into fibres in this article.

Wool

Clothes are made of fibres. These fibres are obtained from plants as well as animals. The properties of fibres depend upon the source they are obtained from. First of all, the fibre is obtained from a source, which is then spun into yarn. Yarn is then woven or knitted into fabric.

Three different types of fibres are used in the preparation of fabrics:

1. Fibres of plant origin like cotton and jute are formed of cellulose.
2. Fibres of animal origin like wool and silk are formed of protein.
3. Man-made fibres or synthetic fibres like rayon, nylon, polyester and acrylic are prepared from petrochemicals.

Fibres of plant and animal origin are called natural fibres.

Wool Yielding Animals

Let’s now discuss wool yielding animals in detail:

Sheep

Most sheep have two types of hair from which the wool is obtained. The outer coarse hair is known as the kemp. The actual wool, which is obtained from the fine, soft undercoat near to the skin, is the fine, soft undercoat from which wool fibre is obtained.

The majority of the long hair has been lost due to domestication and selective breeding. Today’s sheep are almost entirely coated in genuine wool.

Cashmere Goat

Cashmere goat, a breed of goat, produces cashmere wool, the fine and soft fibre obtained from the undercoat of the cashmere goats the day duration shortens, the undercoat grows, and it is coupled with a coarse outer coat known as guard hair, which is present all year. Cashmere goats can only be found in China’s and Tibet’s mountainous regions.

Angora Rabbit

The angora rabbit produces a silky white fibre known as angora wool. Before the fur of these rabbits is combed out, stiff, lengthy guard hair growing through the soft coat must be removed. After that, the fluffy white fur is spun into yarn, which is then used to produce sweaters.

Angora Goat

Angora goat is a breed of domesticated goat named after Ankara, the capital of Turkey. Angora was the name given to it in the past. Mohair is a glossy fibre produced by Angora goats.

Yak

Yak wool is derived from the coat of yaks in Tibet and Ladakh. Yaks have long, coarse hair and a dense woolly undercoat. It is this soft, fine under the hair that is most desirable for manufacturing wool. These fibres are then spun into yarns to make very soft wool.

Camel

Camel fleece comprises a soft, fine undercoat and long, coarse hair that can reach \(15\) inches long. Camel wool is a natural product that is said to be beneficial. It provides good thermal insulation. Llama and alpaca found in South America also yield wool.

Sheep Breeding

The quality and quantity of wool depend upon the breed of the sheep. Native sheep may not be of a breed yielding good wool (‘good’ in terms of quality and quantity). So, they are crossed with exotic breeds (i.e., those found in other parts of the world), which yield better wool. For this purpose, a native ewe (the female) and an exotic ram (the male) are used. The process is called crossbreeding. In our country, crossbreeding with some exotic breeds like Merino, Rambouillet, Corriedale, Somalia, Dorset, and Soviet Merino has given good results. The sheep of some exotic breeds yield large quantities of wool. For example, a Rambouillet can give up to \(5.5\,{\rm{kg}}\) of wool in a year.

Only healthy rams are selected for breeding. The spring season is the best time for mating. At the end of the rainy season, the ewe gives birth to its lamb after a pregnancy of five months.

A lamb lives on its mother’s milk for the first few days. The ewe must be given a nutritious diet during this period. In addition to pasture grass, barley, gram, jowar, cakes of groundnut and cottonseed should be given. Small bricks made of urea, molasses and some mineral salts should also be given as a supplement.

Common Indian Breeds of Sheep

India has different types of climate in different regions. All types of climate do not suit all breeds of sheep. Hence, different breeds exist in different regions, as mentioned in the table.

Common Breeds of Sheep in India

From Fibre to Wool

There are many steps involved in producing wool used for knitting sweaters or weaving shawls.

Shearing

The process of removing the woollen coat or fleece from an animal is called shearing. Sheep are normally shorn once a year in the spring and summer. This enables them to survive without their protective coat of hair. Just as our hair grows back after a haircut, the fleece of an animal grows back. Shearing is done with either a manual razor and blade or clippers. This process does not hurt the animals, just as it does not hurt when you get a haircut or your father shaves his beard. This is because the uppermost layer of the skin is dead.

Scouring

Sheep wool obtained after shearing is known as ‘raw’ or ‘grease wool.’ Because it includes dust and dirt, it must be thoroughly cleaned. This is referred to as scouring. As a result, wool can be used to produce cloth. Scouring is the process of washing and drying sheared wool in hot water and detergent.

Sorting and Grading

Some wool is destroyed after scouring. Damaged or inferior wool is removed with care. Sorting is the term for this procedure. The wool is also categorized by the length, colour, and texture of the fibres. This is referred to as grading. Its grade determines the price of the wool. The fine wool is expensive. Lightweight textiles are made from fine wool.

Dyeing

The natural colour of fleece is white, brown or black. Thus, the sheared wool is dyed in different colours.

Drying

In this process, containers of wool are put through rollers to squeeze out as much water as possible. Then the wool is weighed and packed into bales. They are then transported to the mills, where further processing is done.

Carding

The disentangled fibres are then passed through the rollers. The rollers are covered with a fine sheet of cloth having thin wire teeth. The teeth untangle the fibres and arrange them into a flat sheet called a web. The web is then drawn into narrow ropes and further into narrower strands.

Spinning

The fibres after drying are oiled, straightened, combed, washed, twisted and spun into yarn. The fibres are straightened by keeping them under rollers to stretch them and twisted into yarns.

Weaving and Knitting

The larger fibres are spun into yarns and knitted for making sweaters, whereas the shorter fibres are spun and woven into woollen clothes.

Properties of Wool

The properties of wool are discussed below:

Durability

Wool is a hard fibre that retains its nice appearance for a long time.

Absorption of Moisture

 As a fabric, wool absorbs moisture from the body and retains it inside its fibres. This helps us to hold body heat. Woollen garments also generate heat from the moisture absorbed from the atmosphere.

Dyeability

Wool can be coloured with different types of dyes.

Resistance to fire

Wool has a number of qualities, one of which is that it does not burn easily. When exposed to flames, it will smoulder instead.

Chemical structure

Wool is composed of natural proteins which are biodegradable.

Insulating Nature

Wool does not allow heat to transfer through it very easily. The tiny gaps present between the fibres trap air, which heats up as the moisture in the centre of the fibre heats up, making wool a perfect insulator.

Summary

In the colder parts of the world and in winter, we need to wear warm clothes. Wool is ideal for making such clothes. The fleece is cut off from the body of certain hairy animals to obtain wool. The process is called shearing. Wool is a yarn made from the fine under hair of soft-furred or fleeced animals. In this article, we learned about wool yielding animals, the processing of wool, and the properties of wool.

FAQs

Q.1. Explain how wool is processed?
Ans: There are many steps involved in producing wool are shearing, scouring, sorting & grading, dyeing, drying, carding, spinning, weaving and knitting.

Q.2. Which is the correct sequence of processing fibre into wool?
Ans: The correct order in the processing of wool is = Shearing−scouring−sorting− dyeing-drying-carding-spinning weaving and knitting.

Q.3. What fibre do we get from wool?
Ans: Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other animals, including cashmere and mohair from goats, angora from rabbits, and other types of wool from camelids.

Q.4. Name the animals that give us wool.
Ans: Wool is most commonly produced by sheep, but it can also be found in rabbits, goats, and alpacas.

Q.5. What is the name of the animal from which pashmina wool comes?
Ans: The down (undercoat) fibre generated from cashmere goats with a diameter of 30 microns or less is called pashmina. Pashmina gets its name from the Persian word “Pashm,” which means “soft gold.” It is the king of fibres.

Q.6. For the given breeds of sheep, mention the quality of wool obtained from them and state where they are found:
(a) Lohi
(b) Nali
(c) Bakharwal
(d) Marwari
Ans: (a) Lohi: Good quality wool found in Rajasthan, Punjab.
(b) Nali: Carpet wool found in Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab.
(c) Bakharwal: Wool for shawls found in Jammu and Kashmir.
(d)Marwari: Coarse Wool found in Gujarat.

Study The Concept Of Fibres Here

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