Wool is a natural fiber obtained from sheep and other animals like goats, alpacas, and camels. It provides warmth because wool fibers trap air. Australia is the largest producer of wool. The document discusses the production process of wool including shearing, cleaning, carding and spinning into yarn. It describes the properties of wool like absorbency, elasticity and wrinkle resistance. Various uses of wool are mentioned such as clothing, carpets, insulation and medical purposes. The future of wool is promising due to its sustainability and technical developments.

1. Textile Fibre Wool
Submitted by
Arpita Tripathy
Jyoti Patel
Tulasi Kumar Nanda
Department of Fashion Management Studies
National Institute of Fashion Technology

2. Textile
Fibers

3. What are fibers?
Fibers are the basic units of all textiles. Fibers are put together to form
a continuous strand, making a yarn. Yarns are woven or knitted
together to make fabrics.

4. Group of fibers
Natural fiber
Cellulosic
Cotton
Kapok
Jute
Hemp
Flax
Coir
Leaf Fibers
Protein
Keratin
Wool
Secretion
Silk
Mineral
Asbestos
Glass
Carbon
Manufactured
fiber
Synthetic
Polyester
Nylon
Acrylic
Nomex
Kevlar
Regenerated
Rayon
Casein

5. Introduction
• Wool is made from the fleece/hair
of the sheep or lambs.
• It is the most common animal
fiber people wear today, but its use
goes back to early times.
• Crude wool fabrics have been found in the ruins of the Stone Age.
Even then, people knew that the fleece of the sheep was softer and
warmer than the skins of other animals.
• Sheep were the first animals to be domesticated and raised for their
fleece.
• Australia is the largest producer of wool followed by china and new
Zealand and India being the 7th largest producer of wool
• In India Rajasthan is found to be the largest producer of wool among
other state.

6. Animals which provide Wool
SHEEP GOAT
ALPACA
YAK
LAMA
CAMEL

8. These animals have a thick coat of hair on their bodies because the
hair traps air and air is a poor conductor of heat. So the hair keeps
their body warm.
• The most common wool is sheep wool.
Example – Merino wool.
• The wool obtained from Angora goats of Jammu
Kashmir is soft wool used for making shawls.
Example – Mohair wool
The wool obtained from Cashmere goat is Cashmere wool.
• Wool is also obtained from Angora rabbit.
Example – Angora wool
• Camel hair is also used as wool.
• Yak wool is common in Tibet and Ladakh
• Llama and Alpaca found in South America also
yield wool.

11. Categories of wool
Merino Wool:
• Merino sheep originated in
Spain yields the best quality
wool.
• These fibers are strong, fine
and elastic fiber which is
relatively short, ranging from 1
to 5 inches (25 – 125 mm).
• Merino wool has the greatest
amount of crimp and has
maximum number of scales.
These two factors contribute to
its superior warmth and
spinning qualities.
• Merino is used for the best
types of wool clothing.

13. Inside the Fibre
Molecular Structure Composition
Chemical Composition
• Keratin 33%
Keratin is made up of
1. Carbon 50%
2. Hydrogen 12%
3. Oxygen 10%
4. Nitrogen 25%
5. Sulpher 3%
Physical Composition
• Grease 28%
• Suint 12%
• Different impurities 26%
• Mineral water 01%

14. Primary Properties of Fibers v/s Wool
• Strength: Wool is a weak textile Fibre and in moist condition it is even weaker.
• Warmth: It is the warmest Fibre.
• Durability: A single fiber can be bent 20,000 times.
• Absorbency: It has a large capacity to absorb moisture vapour and sweat next to
the skin making it extremely breathable.
Wrinkle Resistance: Each wool fiber is like a coiled spring that
returns to its natural shape.
• Resiliency: The fibres recover quickly from creasing.
• Elasticity: It is very elastic. The molecular crimp is again responsible for it.
• Shape Retention: Resilient fibres retain their shape.
• Abrasion Resistance: It has an excellent abrasion resistance capacity due to its
scale structure.
• Lusture: Finer fibres are more lustrous than the coarser ones.
• Static Electricity: Wool resists static electricity due to its ability to absorb
moisture vapour.

15. Other specific physical properties of Wool
• Color: White, near white, brown and black.
• Tensile Strength: In dry condition- 1-1.7
In wet condition- 0.8-1.6
• Elongation: Standard-25%-35%
In wet condition-25%-50%
• Specific gravity: 1.3-1.32
• Moisture regain: 16%-18%
• Effect of heat: Softens when heated with boiling water for long time.
At 130 degree Celsius it decomposes.
At 300 degree Celsius it chars.
It does not continue to burn when removed from flame.
• Effect of sunlight: On long exposure fibres become discolored and
develop a harsh feeling.

16. Chemical Properties
• Effects of acid:
Wool is attacked by hot concentrated sulphuric acid and
decomposes completely.
Resists mineral acids.
Nitric acid cause damage by oxidation.
• Effects of Alkalis
Sensitive to strong alkalis.
Caustic soda tends to dissolve it.
• Effect of water
loses 10 to 25% of its strength when wet
boiling will reduce Lusture and promote felting
• Effects of micro organism: it is affected by mildew if it remains wet for a long
time.
• Dyeing ability: It could be dyed by basic dye, direct dye and acid dye.

17. Wool Care
• Dry cleaning is the recommended care method for wool items
because the solvents do not harm wool and create less wrinkling
fuzzing and shrinkage.
• Avoid tumble dry because it leads to excessive felting shrinkage
• Wool items should be dried flat to prevent strain
• While ironing the temperature must be kept low, so use a press cloth
• Steaming should be done with care.

18. Making of Wool into Yarn
Shearing of Sheep :
It is the process by which the woolen fleece of a sheep is cut off.
Typical each adult sheep is shorn once each year.

19. Combing & Grilling the Wool:
After the wool has been shorn and gathered, it must combed manually to
remove any bulk dirt and to begin the process of separating out the short
fibers. The discarded short fibres are called noils, and are grouped into shoddy
and the longer ones are called tops.
Combing is accompanied by Grilling, a process of evening out combed top.

20. Carding the wool
Combing leads to Carded wool. In general there are two main systems
of preparing carded fibre for yarn.
1. Worsted System – Removal of nosils by combing and top
preparation by grilling. The yarn is long and strong with hard
surface.
2. Woolen System – Noils are retained and it may or may not involve
combing. The yarn is short and soft typically used for knitting.

21. Washing the Wool:
This carded wool is then washed. Picked cotton balls and silk cocoons are
also submitted to a process of carding and washing before they are spun.
Washing ingredients & utensils
• Hot Water
• Laundry sink, large tub, or top-
loading washing machine
• Few mesh Lingerie bags
• Dish soap
• Rubber gloves
• Drying rack with an old sheet
over it.

22. Roving:
After the wool is washed, it can be dyed into a color or left natural.
The resulting combing and carding is known as roving. A roving is a
long and narrow bundle of fiber. It is usually used to spin woolen yarn.

23. The wool fibers are then spun into yarn
There are two main methods used to produce woolen-spun yarns.
These are:
(a)Ring spinning
(b)Mule spinning
Mule-spun yarns generally are superior to ring-spun yarns but they
tend to be much more expensive due to the slow production rates and
high labor input.

24. The wool is ready to use

25. Wool yarn is then converted into fabric by the process
of knitting and weaving.

26. Difference between worsted and woolen wool fabrics.
• Woolen fabrics have a
soft feel and fuzzy
surface,.
• They do not shine nor
they hold crease
• They are heavier and
bulkier.
• Worsted wool is
smoother than woolen.
• They are shiny and do
not sag.
• They hold crease easily
and are less bulky.

27. Felting of wool
• The technique of felting, or the process of shrinking and bonding
wool fibers together, through heat, agitation and moisture,
causing the microscopic scales on wool fibers to interlock and
tighten together, forms dense cloth with a soft texture. The two
common methods of felting are
• 1) Needle Felting and
• 2) Moisture Felting

28. Needle Felting:
The fine art of needle felting involves
working with roving, or strands of raw
wool fleece often used in felting and
spinning projects, and using special
barbed felting needles, piercing the
wool, along with manual compression,
to create the interlocking or matting
together of the wool fibers. '
Moisture Felting:
Moisture felting, or the water
method of felting includes the
application of heat from warm or
boiled water, soap, and agitation
through washing and pressing,
either by hand or by machine, that
causes the natural wool fibers to
intertwine and shrink together to
form a tightly woven cloth.

29. Advantages & Disadvantages of Wool
Advantages
• Warmest Natural Fiber
• Natural Insulator
• Strong and Durable
• Lightweight
• Absorbent
• Wrinkle-Resistance
• Fire Retardant
• Stain Resistant
• A Natural Barrier to UV
Disadvantages
• Shrinks easily
• Requires dry cleaning.
• Expensive

30. End Uses
• Clothing
• Blankets
• Horse Rugs
• Saddle cloths
• Carpeting
• Insulation
• Upholstery
• Wool felts cover piano hammers
• Used to absorb odors and noise in
heavy machinery and stereo
speakers.
• It has been traditionally used to
cover cloth diapers.
• Merino wool is used in swaddle
baby wrap blankets and infant
sleeping bags.
• As an animal protein, it is used as
soil fertilizer.

31. Medical Use
• They provide excellent protection when
placed under the back, calves and heels.
• Wool wax: During wool processing one of the
by-products produced which is known as
lanolin, also called wool wax or wool grease.
Medical grade lanolin is used as a cream to
soothe skin, as it is hypoallergenic and
bacteriostatic.
• Bedsore & pressure sore prevention: The
dense 30 mm wool pile medical sheepskins
provides an interface between the patient and
the bed that reduces pressure, friction and skin
moisture.

32. • Wool Pillows: Wool and its
blends can be used in pillow.
It absorbs body moisture to
reduce neck stiffness.
• Foot care: Pressure reduction
and improved comfort and to
cushion toes from corns and
shoe pressure. Also it can be
used in toes of ballet shoes. It
is very ideal for diabetic foot
care.

33. Wool in GeoTextiles
• It involves grinding up wool
carpet and mixing the shredded
product into the soil to grow
grass.
• The soil containing the crushed
wool carpet saw a 60% increase in
dry matter production compared
to the standard soil tested.
Wool in Sportech
• It is special clothing and sports
equipment to enhance protection,
comfort and performance.
• Development of the new
technologies and process like
chlorination of the wool fibre
makes it wearable next to skin and
use as a base layer in sports textile
garment.

34. FUTURE PROSPECTS OF WOOL
• Wool is a premium product, its price reflects global economics.
• The price of wool, of course, is much higher than cotton or man-
made fibers.
• Technical fabrics and synthetics are fast becoming leaders in the
fabric world, however they do not have the sustainability
performance or even aesthetic that wool does.
• Wool’s longevity, performance and sustainability- along with its
many new technical developments and end uses will make wool a
fiber of the future.