Industrial Carbonization of Wool
courtesy of our friends at Holy Lamb Organics
Many of the major processors of wool use a process
called carbonization. Wool is put through a chemical bath of hydrochloric acid
and other chemicals to clean the wool. This is different and in addition to a
normal scouring of soap. Sulfuric Acid is also used in to carbonize wool
specifically to remove dyes from recycled wool.
See
Sulfuric Acid Fact Sheet
This type of scouring has many downfalls. The
chemicals alone are very harmful and we can only assume that residues are
leftover in the finished wool product. This process also strips away all of the
natural lanolin which keeps the wool soft and supple. The other major con to
this process is that it makes wool itchy. Haven’t you ever tried on a wool
sweater that was so incredibly itchy scratchy you could not wait to take it off?
This is due to carbonization, which rips off the tiny hair follicles on a strand
of wool and makes them brittle and ragged causing the wool to be itchy.
Some breeds of sheep have naturally itchy, rough,
thick wool. These fleeces are used for making rugs and carpets instead of
garments. In fact, each breed of sheep have different types of fleeces in terms
of quality, length, thickness, softness…For example, a high-grade breed is
Merino. This type of wool is very fine, long and soft and is mostly made into
roving and used for spinning wool into yarn. In contrast, Katadin sheep have a
very short, thick and burly fiber that has been traditionally used for rug
making. What is particularly interesting about this breed is that they are
self-shearing and shed their coast much like a dog or cat does during the hot
summer months. This is unlike all other breeds of sheep which must have their
coats sheared each year.
Holy Lamb Organics uses a mixture of the Black
Faced Sheep breeds such as Suffolk. This wool has a medium length or staple. It
is soft, lofty, has good bounce and resilience and therefore makes wonderful
batting.
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