Wool

Animal fibers: Alpaca, Camello, Lama, Mohair, Angora, dyed Merino wool, dyed Wensleydale wool. Banking and textile cabinet samples at the Tilburg Textile Museum. Interior of the closet made by Simone de Waart, Sense Material.

Short fiber wool and long fiber wool.

Spit out the scissors.

Wool wool is a natural fiber obtained from sheep (goats and, mainly, sheep) and other animals such as llamas, alpacas, guanacos, vicuñas or rabbits, through a process called shearing. It is used in the textile industry to make products such as bags, blankets, gloves, socks, sweaters, etc. Contains lanolin and creatine, natural oils.

Wool products are mostly used in cold areas because their use maintains body heat; this is due to the fiber nature of the material.

Wool fabric

The use of wool by man dates back to the Neolithic.

History

Although sheep were domesticated between 9,000 and 11,000 years ago, it seems that initially it was only for meat and milk. Archaeological evidence found in Iran shows no evidence of a selection of the most woolly sheep (the wild had much less than today) until 6000 BC. C. The first fragments of clothing made with wool that have been discovered date from between 4000 and 3000 BC. C. Woolly sheep were introduced from the Near East to Europe at the beginning of the 4th millennium BC, although the oldest surviving wool fabric dates from 1500 BC. in Denmark. Before the invention of scissors, probably in the Iron Age, wool was pulled out by hand or with bronze combs. In Roman times, wool, linen and leather dressed the European population; Indian cotton was a curiosity only naturalists had heard of, and silk, imported along the Silk Road from China, was an extravagant luxury good. Pliny the Elder records in his Natural History that Tarentum enjoyed a reputation for producing the finest wool, where selective breeding had produced sheep with superior fleeces, but requiring special care.

In medieval times, as trade connections expanded, Champagne fairs revolved around the production of woolen cloth in small centers like Provins. The network developed by the annual fairs meant that wool from the Provins could reach Naples, Sicily, Cyprus, Majorca, Spain, and even Constantinople. The wool trade became a serious, capital-generating business. 13th century, the wool trade became the economic engine of the Netherlands and central Italy. By the late 14th century, Italy dominated. The Florentine wool guild, Arte della Lana, shipped imported English wool to the convent of San Martino for processing. Italian wool from Abruzzo and Spanish merino wool were processed in Garbo's workshops. Abruzzo wool had once been the most accessible to the Florentine guild, until improved relations with merchants in Iberia made Merino wool more widely available. By the 16th century, Italian wool exports to the Levant had declined and were eventually replaced by silk production.

Both industries, based on the export of raw English wool, were rivaled only by the grazing caps of the 15th century of Castile and they were an important source of income for the English crown, which in 1275 had imposed a tax on the export of wool called the "Great Custom". The importance of wool to the English economy can be seen from the fact that since the XIV century, the president of the House of Lords has sat in the 'Woolsack', a chair stuffed with wool.

Economies of scale were instituted in the Cistercian houses, which had accumulated large tracts of land during the 12th and 13th centuries, when land prices were low and labor was still in short supply. Raw wool was baled and shipped from North Sea ports to the textile cities of Flanders, notably Ypres and Ghent, where it was dyed and worked into cloth. At the time of the Black Death, the English textile industries accounted for around 10% of English wool production. The English textile trade grew during the 15th century, to the point that the export of wool was discouraged. Over the centuries, various British laws controlled the wool trade or required the use of wool even in burials. Smuggling wool out of the country, known as "Owling," was at one time punishable by amputation of a hand. After the Restoration, fine English wools began to compete with silks on the international market, partly with the help of the Navigation Acts; In 1699, the English crown prohibited its American colonies from trading wool with anyone other than England itself.

A large part of the value of woolen textiles was in the dyeing and finishing of the woven product. In each of the centers of the textile trade, the manufacturing process came to be subdivided into a collection of trades, supervised by an entrepreneur in a system called by the English the "putting-out" system, or " 34;cottage industry", and the Verlagssystem by the Germans. In this woolen fabric production system, once perpetuated in Harris tweed style production, the entrepreneur provides the raw materials and a down payment, the remainder is paid upon delivery of the product. Written contracts bound artisans to specific terms. Fernand Braudel traces the emergence of the system to the economic boom of the 13th century, citing a document from 1275. The system effectively circumvented Guild restrictions.

Before the heyday of the Renaissance, the Medici and other great banking houses of Florence had built their wealth and banking system on their wool-based textile industry, overseen by the Arte della Lana, the wool guild: the textile interests of wool guided Florentine policies. Francesco Datini, the "merchant of Prato", established in 1383 an Arte della Lana for that small Tuscan town. Castile's herdsmen were controlled by the Mesta, the union of sheep owners. These shaped the landscape and fortune of the plateau that lies in the heart of the Iberian Peninsula; in the 16th century, a unified Spain allowed the export of Merino lambs only with royal permission. The German wool market, based on sheep of Spanish origin, did not overtake British wool until relatively late. The Industrial Revolution introduced mass production technology in the manufacture of wool and woolen cloth. Australia's colonial economy was based on sheep farming, and the Australian wool trade finally overtook that of the Germans in 1845, providing wool for Bradford, which developed as the heart of industrialized wool production.

A poster of the First World War era sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture that encourages children to raise sheep to provide the necessary war supplies.

Due to declining demand with the increased use of synthetic fibers, wool production is much lower than in the past. The collapse of the price of wool began at the end of 1966 with a fall of 40%; with occasional interruptions, the price has trended downward. The result has been drastically reduced production and movement of resources towards the production of other commodities, in the case of sheep farmers, towards meat production.

The avable wool breakthrough first appeared in the early 1970s to produce wool that has been specially treated to be machine washable and tumble dryable. This wool is produced using an acid bath which removes the "scales" of the fiber, or by coating the fiber with a polymer that prevents the flakes from sticking together and causing shrinkage. This process results in a fiber that maintains longevity and durability over synthetic materials, while retaining its shape.

In December 2004, a bale of the world's finest wool at the time, averaging 11.8 microns, sold for A$3,000 per kilogram at auction in Melbourne, Victoria. This polar fleece tested with an average yield of 74.5%, 68mm long, and had 40 newtons per kilotex of force. The result was A$279,000 per bale. The finest bale of wool ever auctioned sold for a seasonal record A$2,690 per kilo during June 2008. This bale was produced by the Hillcreston Pinehill Partnership and measured 11.6 microns, 72.1% yield and had a measurement of resistance of 43 newtons per kilotex. The bale fetched $247,480 and was exported in India.

In 2007, a new woolen suit that can be washed in the shower and dries ready to wear in a matter of hours without ironing was developed and sold in Japan. The suit was developed using Australian merino wool and allows woven products made from wool, such as suits, trousers and skirts, to be cleaned using a domestic shower at home.

In December 2006, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2009 the International Year of Natural Fibers, in order to raise the profile of wool and other natural fibers.

Shearing and obtaining wool

The structure of a wool fiber

Shearing is done once a year, and then the wool is expected to grow again for twelve months, before shearing again the following summer.

Shearing Techniques

For shearing there are two clearly differentiated techniques or methods:

Criollo or manned method

It is the most traditional and ancient method, where the animal is tied (handled) before beginning to cut the fleece. Once the cut is finished, the sheep is released to shear the belly and make the tear.

Australian method, Tally hi or dismantled

It is a method that arises later and that performs the cutting operations with the animal loose, for which the animal is seated and the shearer operates from behind it. It begins first with the stomach area and ends with the head to get the wool safely.

Shearing instruments

Shearing, regardless of the technique or method used, can be done by hand with scissors (manual shearing) or with a shearing machine (mechanical shearing), which can be fixed or portable.

Sheep and wool quality

The most valuable wools are those that come from sheep that are three to six years old. A sheep produces one to three kilos of fine wool or two to six kilos of thick wool per year, depending on whether it is a breed or another. The isolated parts of the fleece show great differences in fineness and state of cleanliness, depending on the part of the body from which they come.

The classification of the fleece is important, if you aspire to achieve a certain uniformity in the yarn. Rabbits, for example, which also produce wool, also use it to cover the nest where they will lay their young and keep them warm.

Wool washing

Freshly sheared wool is usually very dirty, so before continuing with its production, it must be properly cleaned. In order to save the freight cost of impurities, they are usually pre-washed. In industrial laundries, before washing, the wool loosens sufficiently, as a result of packing and transport, it is still presented in tight bundles and it is very important for the success of the operation that the wool hairs give way to the washing agents. At the same time, dust, sand and other coarse impurities must also be previously removed. It is very important that the water used is not hard or contains iron salts.

The salts that make up the suarda and the so-called wool grease can be recovered from the dirty bleaches from the washing machine. Potash is obtained from the first, by distillation and calcination; purifying the second, brown, dirty and smelly, lanolin is extracted, which constitutes a raw material of great value for the preparation of pharmaceutical and cosmetic products.

World production

Main wool producers (2019) (tonnes)
ChinaChina	341.120
Australia	328.608
New ZealandNew Zealand	122.227
United KingdomUnited Kingdom	70.467
TurkeyTurkey	65.030
MoroccoMorocco	64.948
Russia Russia	50.211
IranIran	49.064
PakistanPakistan	45.444
Argentina	42,000
South Africa	41.899
Turkmenistan	41.814
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan	39.492
India	37.887
UzbekistanUzbekistan	35.115
AlgeriaAlgeria	34.718
Uruguay Uruguay	30.707

Source

Features

The classification of the wool is made taking into account a series of characteristics, of which the most important are: fineness, length, regularity in the degree of curling, uniformity, resistance, elongation, elasticity, flexibility, color, shine and performance.

The world production of washed wool is around 2 million tons, with the main producers being Australia, Argentina, China, the United Kingdom, Russia, New Zealand, South Africa and Uruguay.

Metabolism

The presence of the MOGAT2 and MOGAT3 genes in the skin of ovine species indicates the existence of an alternative pathway for the synthesis of diacylglycerol (DAG) either from the generated recycling of monoacylglycerol (MAG) from the mobilization of triacylglycerol (TAG) stored within the cell to generate fatty acids for incorporation into other products or from external sources.

The MOGAT pathway does not generate glycerol, which needs prior phosphorylation in the liver to be able to be reused for the synthesis of triacylglycerol (TAG) in the skin through glycerol-3-phosphate (G3P), increasing the efficiency of glycerol recycling. glycerol. The skin produces LIPH lipase, which releases LPA that is involved in the control of hair follicle development.

Properties

Wool is an elastic, fire-retardant and resilient material.

Physical properties of wool

The raw wool extracted from the sheep can be dyed using various natural elements. Onion shell, beetle, cooked mate and various indigenous plants can be used, from which the fruit, root or leaves are used. To obtain the color one must place some of the elements mentioned in a pot with boiling water and after a few minutes remove them and enter the wool. Once obtained the desired color, remove the wool using a strainer and let dry.

1. Resistance: is the property that allows the wool to stretch in large proportion, before breaking. This is very important, from the textile point of view, given that industrialization processes such as carding, combing and yarn, subject to considerable tensions to wool fibers, which must possess sufficient extensiveness to be preserved entirely through the aforementioned processes.
2. Elasticity: this property, intimately related to the previous one, refers to the fact that the wool returns to its natural length, after stretching within certain limits, since it comes a time when, when the chemical links are broken, the wool that does not return to its original length. The elasticity of wool is due to the helical structure of its molecules. Thanks to this extension-collection property, the wool has the ability to retain the shape of the garments, and maintain the elasticity of the carpets.
3. Higroscopicity: all natural fibers absorb the humidity of the atmosphere and, among them, the wool is the one that performs it in greater proportion; the wool is higroscopic, that is to say that it absorbs water vapor in a humid atmosphere and loses it in a dry. The wool fiber is able to absorb up to 50% of its drain weight.
4. Flexibility: is the property of wool fibers, so they can be folded easily, without breaking or breaking. This property is of great importance to the industry, both in hiland and in weaving, to achieve resistant fabrics.

Chemical properties of wool

1. Effect of alkalis: the wool protein, which receives the name of keratin, is particularly susceptible to alkalis damage. For example, sodium hydroxide solutions at 5 per cent, at room temperature, dissolve the wool fiber.
2. Effect of acids: wool is resistant to the action of mild or diluted acids, but instead concentrated mineral acids, such as sulfuric and nitric acids, cause depopulation and decomposition of fiber. However, diluted sulfuric acid solutions are used during the industrial wool process to carbonize the plant matter attached to the fibers.
3. Effect of organic solvents: most organic solvents commonly used to clean and remove stains from wool tissues are safe, in the sense that do not damage wool fibers.

Biological properties of wool

1. Microorganisms: wool has some resistance to bacteria and fungi; however, these microorganisms can attack the stains that appear in the wool. If the wool is stored in a wet atmosphere, mushrooms appear, which can even destroy the fiber. On the other hand, bacteria that produce rottens can destroy the fiber, if the wool stays long in moisture and dust.
2. Insects: from the moment the wool is a protein, and therefore can be considered a modified food product, it presents a food source for different types of insects. The larvae of the moth of the clothes and the scarab of the carpets are the most common predators of the wool; these insects are estimated to damage several million kilos of wool fabric every year. Several treatments have been suggested to prevent this damage; such is the case of fumigation of wool tissues with insecticides, or the application of chemicals that react with wool molecules and cause fiber not to be palpable for insects. Another system is to put, in the vicinity of the wool, substances that waste harmful smells for insects.

Museums

• Lana Interpretation Centre (La Horra)