The most familiar of all natural fibers, wool has been used for centuries as the yarn of choice in carpets and rugs. Hard-wearing wool retains its appearance for years. Loop pile or woven textures are styles that avoid traffic pattern and foot print tracks. Naturally flame retardant and reduces dryness and static. A safe choice for home or business settings. Resistance to soiling and staining. Hard microscopic external scales on the fibre give it an easy to care for quality. Warm and comfortable in winter because of its natural insulating attributes.  Dry and clean in the summer because it naturally regulates air moisture content. Wool is good for the environment. A renewable fiber source that is biodegradable at the end of the product's life span.

Sheep are sheared once a year—usually in the springtime. A veteran shearer can shear up to two hundred sheep per day. The fleece recovered from a sheep can weigh between 6 and 18 pounds (2.7 and 8.1 kilograms); as much as possible, the fleece is kept in one piece. While most sheep are still sheared by hand, new technologies have been developed that use computers and sensitive, robot-controlled arms to do the clipping.

Grading is the breaking up of the fleece based on overall quality. In sorting, the wool is broken up into sections of different quality fibers, from different parts of the body. The best quality of wool comes from the shoulders and sides of the sheep and is used for clothing; the lesser quality comes from the lower legs and is used to make rugs. In wool grading, high quality does not always mean high durability.

Wool taken directly from the sheep is called "raw" or "grease wool." It contains sand, dirt, grease, and dried sweat (called suint); the weight of contaminants accounts for about 30 to 70 percent of the fleece's total weight. To remove these contaminants, the wool is scoured in a series of alkaline baths containing water, soap, and soda ash or a similar alkali. The byproducts from this process (such as lanolin) are saved and used in a variety of household products. Rollers in the scouring machines squeeze excess water from the fleece, but the fleece is not allowed to dry completely. Following this process, the wool is often treated with oil to give it increased manageability.

More Information:

• Woven Styles from Europe
• Tufted Styles from Europe
• Installation
• Life Cycle

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