Physical Properties and Processing of Fine Merino Lamb's Wool

Self Cite

The effect of wool crimp, independent of fiber diameter, on loose fiber resistance to compression and the handle of fine Merino lamb's and fleece wool was reported in Part II of this series of papers. For staples in which crimp is well defined, there is a good correlation between crimp and fiber curvature. In woolen system processing, a reduction in fiber crimp/curvature results in greater sliver bulk, more even slubbing, hairier yarns, and loftier knitted fabric. A subjective and objective evaluation of knitted and woven fabrics processed from batches combining specially selected individual fleeces illustrates how fabric handle can be engineered through the principal raw wool parameters of fiber curvature and diameter.

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physical Properties and Processing of Fine Merino Lamb's Wool

Madeley

Postle

1999

Self Cite

“…The handle of superfine wool is determined largely by the average diameter. However, the fiber diameter changes throughout the growth period of the superfine wool [2,3]. Therefore, many researchers have investigated this problem.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Study on the Thick Tip of Lamb's Wool of Superfine Merino Sheep

Sun

Chen

et al. 2007

Superfine wool of Merino sheep has many distinct characteristics, especially its higher fineness. Generally, its mean diameter is about 16.5 µm and it is a good material for fine worsted fabrics. However, the region near the tip of a primary fiber has a coarser fiber diameter, with a value of 35—66 µm. The length of such a segment is usually up to 16—22 mm. The secondary fiber also has a small swelling segment near the tip, but the length of this segment is very short and difficult to determine. The existence of such fibers with thick tips would greatly decrease the final product quality. However, the fiber diameter of the wool becomes even and unchangeable along the fiber when a lamb is 4 months old. Therefore, we suggest that lamb's wool should be sheared for other uses on lambs over 4 months of age.

“…Methods used to sample and test both individual fleeces and bulk quantities of wool included both standard and nonstandard approaches [8]. We modified a CSIRO Sonic B wool fineness tester [ 2 ] to display digital millivoltage rather than that of the normal analog meter.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We devised a sampling protocol with which to randomly select representative staples from both individual fleeces and bulk wool lots [ 8 ] . We measured the mean staple length and crimp frequency and variation in both using &dquo;Style-MARK 3,&dquo; a CSIRO experimental instrument [ 3 1.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Physical Properties and Processing of Fine Merino Lamb's Wool

Madeley

Postle

Mahar

1998

Self Cite

The fiber properties and handle of fine Merino lamb's and fleece wool are critically reviewed in Part 1 of this series of papers. Those objective characteristics that distinguish these two classes of raw wool and appear to account for the relative softness of hand of lamb's compared with fleece wool are presented here. The best single parameter indicating softness is resistance to compression. A reduction in staple crimp frequency or mean fibre diameter or both lowers resistance to compression and increases softness. The lower mean staple crimp frequency observed in wool grown in the first four months of a lamb's life is a visual indication of tactile softness compared with that of wool grown subsequently.