Question

List the steps involved in wool processing.

Accepted Answer

Wool processing involves various steps namely shearing, scouring, sorting or grading, dyeing, drying, carding and spinning. Shearing is the process of removing the sheep's fleece along with a thin layer of skin. The raw sheared wool is washed clean of dirt, dust, grease and other impurities in large tanks full of hot water and detergents. This process is called scouring. The process of separating the hair of different textures is called sorting. Grading involves grouping wool according to its length, colour, texture and ease of dyeing. The wool is passed through a series of metal teeth that straighten the fibres and remove remaining impurities. Small, fluffy fibres called burrs are picked out from the hair.

Wool is generally creamy white. However, some breeds of sheep produce black, brown or grey wool. The fibres are dyed in various colours depending on the requirement in the dyeing process. The wool is washed properly after dyeing it. In this process, wool is put through rollers to squeeze out water and speed up the drying process. The fibres are made into long straightened strands during the process of carding. In the spinning process, the wool fibres are spun into yarn. The longer fibres are spun into wool for knitting sweaters. The shorter fibres are woven into woollen clothes or carpets.

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