What is Wool ? | Production and consumption

Wool, as all animal hair both coarse and fine, falls under the class of natural fibres and more precisely under the class of animal fibres from hair bulbs. Although the term ″wool″ is commonly associated also with the name of the animals which supply the relevant pile as for instance Angora wool, this term wool stands only for the hair of the domestic sheep (Ovis aies L.) of various breeds. Capture

Archaeologists affirm that sheep existed already when the man appeared on the earth, and it is almost beyond any doubt that wool was one of the first textile fibres available for spinning and weaving. Archaeological finds on the Zagros mountains, at the border between Iran and Iraq, prove that sheep were tamed already 9000 years BC. For a long time, sheep and their products were the main source of wealth and the best medium of exchange. In this connection we remind that the Latin word ″pecunia″ (money) derives from the word″pecus″ (sheep) and that the first coins portrayed this animal.

Wool characteristics depend on following factors:

- method used to obtain the fleece:

virgin wool = wool obtained by shearing the living animal;

plucked wool = wool obtained by chemical treatment of skins of slaughtered sheep - sheep age or sex:

lamb’s wool = first wool sheared from a lamb less than one year old;

ewe’s wool = wool obtained by subsequent shearing;

ram’s wool

- breed:

merino = wool with fineness ≤ 24,5 µ;

cross-bred wool = wool with fineness between 24,5 and 32,5 µ;

coarse wool = wool with fineness > 32,5 µ.

- wool state:

greasy wool, containing the original substances of just shorn wool, i.e. yolk and suint; fleece washed wool, obtained by making the living sheep pass through water; machine scoured wool, in which the grease is to a great extent removed; carbonized wool, that is wool treated with acids and heated to eliminate the contents of vegetable substances; wool tops, that is regular combed silvers composed of parallel long fibres from which all original impurities have been removed, intended for worsted spinning and for high quality products.

Production and consumption

It is estimated that sheep living on earth are today about 1 billion, of which 14% in China, 13% in Australia, 5% in the CIS and 5% in New Zealand. In the last years the production has progressively decreased. For the 1998-99 season a production of 2,4 million tons of raw wool (equal to 1,4 million tons of scoured wool) is expected. According to IWS estimates, the major producing countries of greasy wool in same season 1998-99 are: Australia (681,000 tons), the People’s Republic of China (302,000 t), New Zealand (256,000 tons), CIS (139,000 tons), Uruguay (63,000 t), Argentina (70,000 tons), Turkey (73,000 t), Great Britain (55,000 tons), South Africa (60,000 tons).

Production percentages for the different breeds are: merino 41 %, crossbred 25%, others 34%; 80% of the merino wool is supplied by Australia ad South Africa.

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