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A) Shearing
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Once a year, usually in the warmer months, sheep are brought in for clipping and shearing. The Shearer holds the sheep gently between his or her knees and clips with the shears, as close as he can to the sheep's body, taking off the wool in a complete fleece. Depending on the breed, the fleece can weigh anywhere between 1.5 - 10 kgs. A skilled person, working with a machine, can shear one sheep in less than two minutes - 250 sheep in one day.
Fleeces must be kept clean and dry after shearing. Each one is rolled, then packed into a big sack called a 'wool sheet', ready for delivery to the BWMB (British Wool Marketing Board) for grading.
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B) Grading
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There is a network of grading depots throughout the UK. There the wool is graded, fleece-by-fleece, and packed into bulk bales of the same type and quality, ready for auction. A sample of wool is taken from each of the bulk bales and tested in the laboratory for its colour, the thickness of its fibre, and the amount of grease it contains. A certificate is issued with this information, and made available to buyers before a sale.
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C) Sales
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At its Bradford headquarters, the BWMB arranges regular electronic wool auctions, where the wool is sold on the open market to the textile trade. Buyers view sample bales beforehand and bid per kilo.
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D) Sorting
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When the raw wool arrives at the processing plant it is sometimes sorted. Sorting is a highly skilled job, dividing the fleece by hand, into different qualities ready for scouring. Nowadays, only the best fleeces are sorted, and used for the most expensive products..
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E) Scouring
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The dirty, raw wool is coated with grease and often contains mud, seeds and thorns picked up in the fields. The wool is washed, or 'scoured', in a series of baths containing detergent and hot water. It is thoroughly rinsed, squeezed through rollers and gently dried. Wool loses approximately 30% of its weight when the grease is removed. This is purified to make lanolin and used in face and hand cream, soap, and ointment.
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F) Carding
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Once it is scoured, the wool is clean and white, but extremely tangled. It is fed into a carding machine where it is passed through rollers covered in tiny wire teeth. This helps untangle the fibres and removes any pieces of hay or straw which may be left in the wool.
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G) Combing
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Wool which is to be used for worsted yarn is combed on a machine which runs the fibres through a series of teeth, removing all the short fibres (noils), and drawing out the longer ones to lie smooth and in parallel with one another.
The wool is combed into a continuous rope or 'sliver' called 'top', which is wound into a 'ball' or 'bump' ready for spinning. Wool to be used for woollen yarn is not combed. The fibres are left higgledy piggledy, ready for spinning.
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H) Spinning
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The process is the same for woollen or worsted yarn. The sliver of wool, combed or tangled, is passed through a series of machines which twist and draw out the fibres into a continuous thread of the correct thickness. Worsted yarn is spun more tightly and is stronger than woollen yarn.
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I) Weaving
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A piece of cloth is made by interlacing two sets of threads at right angles to each other. It is made on a 'loom'. The yarn which runs the length of the fabric is called the 'warp', and the yarn interwoven across the warp is called the 'weft'. This is carried by a 'shuttle'.
Modern looms are computer ocontrolled at very high speeds. Several shuttles can build up complex and interesting patterns.
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J) Dyeing
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This can take place at different stages of the wool processing.
Stock dyeing - is when the wool is loose and carded after scouring. Top dyeing - tops are typed under pressure for worsted yarns. Package dyeing - yarn, usually worsted spun, is dyed on the cone. Piece dyeing - when the cloth has been woven or the garment knitted.
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