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To use wool successfully in technical applications requires a high-value application that can exploit its natural properties, a reduction in costs, or modifying the fibre to achieve a particular target performance. Wool is increasingly heing used in technical applications in which its unique properties and the opportunities for specific enhancements can be profitably utilised. This paper examines wool's attributes for technical textiles and introduces a wide range of new and future applications, with particular reference to developments emerging from wool-based projects at Canesis Network Ltd.

The effects of ultrasound at 35-39 kHz on several wool dyeing and finishing processes have been investigated as a way of reducing environmental impact. Ultrasound improved the effectiveness of cleaning scoured wool in water and to a lesser extent in water-nonionic surfactant. Scanning electron microscopy did not indicate any surface damage. Fluorescence microscopy revealed increased levels of sulphydryl groups on the wool surface suggesting ultrasound caused the removal of thioester-bound lipids. Ultrasound pre-treatment increased the effectiveness of subsequent oxidative-reductive bleaching, but had no effect on the uptake of acid levelling and acid milling dyes. The pre-treatment retarded the uptake of reactive dye, possibly by increasing the crystallinity of the fibre or removing surface bound lipids. Ultrasound did not improve dyeing under conditions that are currently used in industry, but did show potential to reduce the chemical and energy requirements of dyeing wool with reactive and acid milling dyes, but not acid levelling dyes.

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Although wool is a natural renewable fibre with a relatively low environmental impact for its production, a number of functional finishes are commonly applied to improve wool’s performance in knitted or woven garments or carpet. These finishes include those to improve fabric shrink-, flame- and insect -resistance, photo-stability and a number of treatments to improve wool carpet performance. The paper describes currently used treatments, their environmental problems and considers new, more environmentally -friendly alternatives under development.

The aim of this research was to examine the effectiveness of an enzyme in enhancing the cleaning effectiveness of woolen fabric without addition of any detergent. As a model enzyme, lipase from Pseudomonas fluoresces was immobilized onto a woolen cloth using a unique protocol that involved: chlorination of the wool, adsorbing a polyethyleneimine (PEI) spacer, adsorbing, and cross-linking with glutaraldehyde (GA) followed by adsorption of the lipase. It was determined that for this protocol, the immobilized activity was dependent on the GA solution pH and not on its concentration. The cloth exhibited excellent oily stain removal ability: after being stained with olive oil and stored for 1 day in air at room temperature, the oily stain could be easily removed by 0.05 M pH 8.5 Tris buffer without any detergent addition. This enhanced cleaning was stable also over a period of one month. The activity of the cloth (based on activity assay) dropped considerably over just 15 days storage in air. This therefore likely indicates that the enhanced cleaning seen over an extended storage period may not require as high an enzyme activity. The activity of the immobilized lipase was also very stable when stored under near ideal conditions: when the immobilized cloth was stored in 0.05 M Tris buffer (pH 8.5) for more than 80 days in a refrigerator, more than 80% of the lipase activity remained. Overall, results indicate that this immobilization protocol is a promising step towards producing a woolen fabric with enhanced cleaning properties.