Understanding and identifying wool fabric raw materials

Understanding and identifying wool fabric raw materials

At present, the animal hair fibers used in wool fabrics on the market generally include sheep wool, goat hair, camel wool and rabbit hair. Wool textiles woven with these fibers are already in various shapes and forms. Due to their different textures and contents, the wearing feel and effects are naturally different. If you have some understanding and identification of the raw materials of various wool fabrics, it will be beneficial to choose to buy and achieve the ideal wearing effect.

Sheep wool

The sweaters, woolen fabrics, felts, etc. that people use in large quantities every day are mainly sheep wool that grows densely on sheep. In the knitting industry, due to the large amount of sheep wool, “wool” has become the abbreviation of sheep wool.

The countries that produce more sheep wool in the world are Australia, the CIS, New Zealand, Argentina and China. China’s sheep production areas are mainly concentrated in pastoral areas such as Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Tibet, and Qinghai, as well as semi-agricultural and pastoral areas such as Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Sichuan, and Northeast China. They are divided into improved fine-wool sheep and unimproved soil-bred sheep. The count and grade of wool are the basis for evaluating the grade and quality of wool. The higher the count, the better the quality. The higher the grade, the worse the quality.

Among sheep wool, “Australian wool” has always been admired by people. It belongs to Merino sheep and is produced in Australia, hence its name. Its wool fibers are thin and long, making it a high-quality breed of sheep. Others such as New Zealand, South America, European countries, the Southern Alps, etc. are raised and enjoy a high reputation in the world.

Shenandoah is also a common variety. Shetland wool was originally called Shetland wool and was named after it was produced in the Shetland Islands of Scotland, England. Since Shenandoah wool is mainly downy and mixed with more coarse hair and velvet hair, this natural mixture of thickness forms the unique characteristics of Shenandoah wool fabric, which is plump and fluffy, soft but not delicate, with good luster and elasticity. Has a rugged style. However, due to the small output of Shenandoah wool and the short supply, the so-called “Shenandoah sweaters” sold on the market are mostly made of New Zealand’s semi-fine wool. There are also some sweaters called “Shenandoah wool”, which sell for less than a hundred yuan or even tens of yuan each. They are actually products imitating Shenandoah wool style. Some “Shenandoah wool” are spun from a variety of miscellaneous wools. , can only make thick yarn, and the price is cheaper.

There is also sheep wool, which is popular with consumers because of its low price. It is actually lamb wool, which has a thicker feel and is often made into wool.

Goat hair

Goat hair refers to the coarse and dead hair cut from goat hair. Generally speaking, the fine hairs on goat hair are very short and cannot be spun, and the coarse hair can only be used to make brushes, brushes, etc., with the exception of mohair. Mohair is Angora goat hair. It is produced in the Angola Province of Turkey, North America and South Asia. It is a high-quality wool fiber with a smooth surface, rarely curled, long and thick, with a soft and strong luster like silk, and excellent aftertaste. With elasticity, wear resistance and high strength, it is an ideal raw material for weaving jacquard blankets, plush, smooth wool coats, artificial fur and other high-end fabrics. The mohair sweater hand-knitted with thick stick needles is covered with soft silky mist-like fibers, forming a noble, lively and rugged clothing style that is deeply loved by people. The Zhongwei goat hair in northwest my country also belongs to the mohair category. However, in the market, some people sell fluffy-style acrylic bulked yarn as “mohair”, causing misunderstanding. Such acrylic bulked yarn can only be called “imitation mohair” at best.

Alpaca wool

Alpaca wool (ALPACA), also known as “alpaca wool”, has fiber lengths of 20 to 40 cm and comes in white, brown, gray, black and other colors. Because 90% is produced in Peru, it is also called “Peruvian wool” . It has two varieties, one with curly fibers and a silver luster, and the other with straight fibers, less curl and a luster similar to mohair. They are often blended with other fibers and used as high-quality materials for making high-end clothing. Most of the camel wool currently on the market is products from Eastern Europe.

Rabbit fur

Rabbit fur is loved by people for its lightness, fineness, softness, strong warmth retention and low price. It is composed of soft down and coarse hair, mainly including ordinary rabbit and Angora rabbit hair, with the latter having the best quality. The difference between rabbit hair and wool is that the fibers are slender and the surface is particularly smooth and easy to identify. Because rabbit hair has low strength and is difficult to spin alone, it is often blended with wool or other fibers to make knitwear and clothing fabrics such as women’s tweed and coats.

What is pure wool

In the market, people often see wool products with two signs: “pure wool” or “100% wool”. Some people think that “pure wool” equals “100% wool”, but this is not the case. Literally “pure wool” should be 100% wool. But in fact, in the production process, in order to improve the textile properties of the fibers and make the fabrics more durable, some products often add some polyester or nylon non-wool fibers. The amount of addition is clearly stipulated in the national standards. So, we understand. Pure wool products are not 100% wool. Those labeled as pure wool products have added non-wool fibers within the specified range, so they should be cheaper than 100% wool products.

In short, in order to buy satisfactory woolen textiles in the increasingly prosperous market, in addition to trying to identify them by looking, touching, asking, and comparing, we can also analyze them from the price point. Of course, safety requires continuous improvement of product knowledge.

Source “China Textile Network”

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