Fashion Fine Points: Materials - Wool
By definition of the "Wool, Products labeling Act of 1929" wool means “the fibre
from the fleece of the sheep or lamb, or the hair of the Angora or Cashmere goat
(and may include the so-called specialty fibers from the hair of the Camel, Alpaca,
Llama and Vicuna) which has never been reclaimed from any woven or felted wool products.”
There are about forty breeds of sheep in existence today which, counting the cross
breeds, account for some 210 distinct grades and types.
- Worsted: A wide range of fabrics are made from worsted yarn and are compactly made
from smooth uniform, Worsted means: “the twisting of the yarns” as they are woven
- Super 100’s and Super 120’s wool: This numbering refers to the thickness of the
fiber, the higher the number the finer the wool. The finest of fibers come strictly
from the neck and shoulders of the sheep. Super 100’s = wool yarn under 18 microns
in thickness; Super 120’s = wool yarn under 16 microns in thickness.
- Merino Wool is the highest, finest and best type of wool obtainable. The best wool
in the world comes from the Botany Bay and Port Phillip Bay areas of Australia.
- Llama wool is obtained every two years and the life span of the animal is 10 to
14 years. The majority of Llamas are raised in Bolivia, Peru, Southern Ecuador and
Argentina.
- Mohair is made from the hair of the angora goat of Asia Minor.
- Shetland wool: It is not shorn, but pulled out by hand in the spring of each year.
Shetland sheep produce fine, lustrous fiber and the real wool is the undergrowth
found under the long fibers.
- Tasmanian wool is a Merino quality type of wool that comes exclusively from the
island of Tasmania, of the coast of Australia. The wool is taken off of the shoulders
of the sheep which produce the finest yarns. This quality of wool is used strictly
in Super 100 and up grades of wool.
- Vicuna wool is the finest hair fiber to be found anywhere in the world; it is twice
as fine as the finest Merino wool fiber. It is found in small flacks in amost inaccessible
mountain regions of Peru.
- Alpaca One of the great benefits of alpaca is it provides warmth without weight.
Alpaca is a hair having a hollow core in the fiber that provides excellent thermal
properties. The wearer is equally comfortable at temperatures from 35 degrees –
75 degrees. Comfort levels are the same indoors or outdoors