U.S. RESEARCH ON WOOL

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26576, 12 November 1951, Page 8

U.S. RESEARCH ON WOOL

FINE YARNS FROM COARSE FIBRES ‘AGEING’ AND ‘STEAMING’ PROCESSES (New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON. November 10. Fibre yarns of increased fineness may soon be spun from medium and coarse wools as the result of research in America, says a statement from the New Zealand Wool Board’s information service. Exhaustive research involving the use of New Zealand and other wools to find out the most favourable conditions for “ageing” and “steaming’’ wool fibres, now nearing conclusion at Princeton. New Jersey, has been reported on by the Textile Institute. Mr W. Von Bergen, director of research to the Fortsmann Woollen Company, and Dr. J. H. Wakelin, director of research to the Textile Institute. both of whom have been work-ing-on the "Princeton project,’’ as it is called, emphasised on Wednesday at the annual meeting of the institute that ageing and steaming—used together or individually—made it possible for wools to be spun close to the spinning limit with a higher efficiency. In some cases the use of ageing and steaming enables the present spinning limits to be exceeded. If improved techniques of ageing and steaming are developed it may be possible to use coarse wools in making yarns of the qualities now made from the finer wools. Selected Wools Tested Four wools, two fine from Australia (70 s) and the United States (64’s), and two medium crossbreds (58's) from the United States and New Zealand have been subjected to extensive laboratory examinations in the raw state, and also at various stages of worsted manufacture. The ageing process is related to the relaxation of strains of fibres caused by previous processing. The benefits of wool ageing under these conditions are also obtainable through steaming. The ageing of yarn at 70 per cent, relative humidity and 70 degrees Fahrenheit increases the efficiency of spinning and weaving. The fineness of the wool, regardless of where it comes from, is the main factor in controlling the character of the final product. The only influence of the environment and the geographical source of the wool on the processing appears in the scouring. Under this scouring system. Australian fine wool had a residual grease content of •27 per cent., while New Zealand medium wool was scoured to a residual grease content of 1.38 per cent. The technicians consider that this difference may be caused by the different geographical conditions. All the four wools concerned showed similar progressive changes during the processing. The yarns spun from the medium wool were found after dyeing to give a darker shade than those spun from the fine wool. Single wool fibres taken out of the steamed yarn showed a marked reluctance to take a stain or a dye. This research project t)as developed special techniques for finding out the chemical properties of wool and the physical properties of a single wool fibre.