Fiber Definitions — textile fibers, yarn fibers and fiber properties from Apparel Search
Wool classing is an occupation in which people are trained to produce uniform, predictable, low risk lines of wool, carried out by examining the characteristics of the wool in its raw state. The classer examines the breed of the sheep, chemical usage, brands, jowls and shanks, stain, crimp, diameter, strength and colour before placing each part of the clip into its line.
Wool classing is an occupation in which people are trained to produce uniform, predictable, low risk lines of wool. This is carried out by examining the characteristics of the wool in its raw state. The characteristics which a wool classer should examine are:
Breed of the sheep: Shedding breeds will increase the risk of medulated and/or pigmented fibers. Any sheep likely to have dark fibers should be shorn last to avoid contamination. The age of the sheep will have a bearing on the fiber diameter and value of wool, too.
Chemical usage: Ensure that all rules have been followed.
Brands, jowls and shanks: Must be removed from fleeces and broken.
Stain: Must be removed from fleeces and identified in a separate line.
Wool crimp: The number of bends per unit length along the wool fiber approximately indicates spinning capacity of the wool. fibers with a fine crimp have many bends and usually have a small diameter. Such fibers can be spun into fine yarns, with great lengths of yarn for a given weight of wool, and greater market value. Fine fibers may be utilised in the production of fine garments such as men's suits whereas the coarser fibers may be used for the production of carpet and other sturdy products. Crimp is measured in crimps per inch or crimps per centimetre. Average diameter or mean fiber diameter is measured in micrometres (microns). For generations, English wool-handlers categorized wool along the above lines estimating spinning capacity by eye and touch. This spread worldwide as the Bradford system.
Wool Strength (also known as tensile strength) determines wool's ability to withstand processing. Weaker wools produce more waste in carding & spinning. Weaker wools may be used for production of felt, or combined with other fibers, etc.
Wool color: Indicates whether wool is able to be dyed in light shades. Color may be graded depending upon the natural color, impurities and various stains present. Severely stained wool decreases prices dramatically. However, it is difficult to assess color accurately without proper measurement, since some stains will wash out in the processing, whereas others are quite persistent.
The fleece is skirted to remove excess frib, seed and burr etc to leave the fleece as reasonably even as possible in good respects. The parts of wool taken from a sheep are graded separately. The fleece forming the bulk of the yield is placed with other fleece wool as the main line, other pieces such as the neck, belly and skirtings (inferior wool from edges) are sold for such purposes where the shorter wools are required (for example: fillings, carpets, insulation). Whilst in some places crimp may determine which grade the fleece will be placed into, this subjective assessment is not always reliable and processors prefer that wools are measured objectively by qualified laboratories. Some of the superfine wool growers do in shed wool testing, but this can only be used as a guide. This enables wool classers to place wool into lines of a consistent quality. A shedhand, known as a wool presser, places the wool into approved wool packs in a wool press to produce a bale of wool that must meet regulations concerning its fastenings, length, weight and branding if it is to be sold at auction in Australasia. All Merino fleece wool sold at auction in Australia is objectively measured for fiber diameter, yield (including the amount of vegetable matter), staple length, staple strength and sometimes color.
Classers are also responsible for ensuring that a pre-shearing check is made to ensure that the wool and sheep areas are free of possible contaminants. They are to supervise shed staff during shearing and train any inexperienced hands. At the end of shearing classers have to provide full documentation concerning the clip.
Learn about wool grades & standards.
Learn about wool fibers.
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| The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/wool_classing). Modified by Apparel Search 8/30/08 |
Every characteristic on the classer's list answers a buyer's risk. Shedding breeds increase the risk of medulated and pigmented fibers, and any sheep likely to have dark fibers should be shorn last to avoid contamination. Chemical usage must follow the rules, brands, jowls and shanks must be removed from fleeces and broken, and stain must be removed from fleeces and identified in a separate line. Wool strength — tensile strength — determines the wool's ability to withstand processing: weaker wools produce more waste in carding and spinning, and may be used for felt or combined with other fibers. Wool colour indicates whether the wool can be dyed in light shades; severely stained wool decreases prices dramatically, though some stains wash out in processing while others are quite persistent. Classers also make the pre-shearing check that wool and sheep areas are free of possible contaminants, supervise shed staff during shearing, train inexperienced hands, and provide full documentation concerning the clip at the end of shearing.
The output of classing is the line: wool of a consistent quality that a mill can buy as one lot. A shedhand known as a wool presser places the classed wool into approved wool packs in a wool press to produce a bale of wool that must meet regulations concerning its fastenings, length, weight and branding if it is to be sold at auction in Australasia. Some superfine wool growers do in-shed wool testing, but this can only be used as a guide; the authoritative numbers come from the laboratories. That partnership — the classer's trained judgement sorting the clip fleece by fleece, and objective measurement certifying diameter, yield, staple length and strength — is what allows a natural product grown on millions of individual sheep to be traded as if it were an industrial material with a specification sheet.
Wool crimp — the number of bends per unit length along the wool fiber — approximately indicates the spinning capacity of the wool. Fibers with a fine crimp have many bends and usually have a small diameter, and can be spun into fine yarns with greater market value; coarser fibers may be used for carpet and other sturdy products. Crimp is measured in crimps per inch or crimps per centimetre, and average diameter is measured in micrometres (microns).
The fleece is skirted to remove excess frib, seed and burr, and the parts of wool taken from a sheep are graded separately. The fleece forming the bulk of the yield is placed with other fleece wool as the main line, while neck, belly and skirtings — inferior wool from the edges — are sold for purposes where shorter wools are required, such as fillings, carpets and insulation.
For generations English wool-handlers categorised wool by eye and touch, a practice that spread worldwide as the Bradford system. Subjective assessment is not always reliable, however, and processors prefer wools measured objectively by qualified laboratories; all Merino fleece wool sold at auction in Australia is objectively measured for fiber diameter, yield, staple length, staple strength and sometimes colour.