SHRINK-RESISTANT WOOL KNITWEAR

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31628, 14 March 1968, Page 3

SHRINK-RESISTANT WOOL KNITWEAR

This month the New Zealand Wool Board will make it mandatory for most types of Woolmark knitwear to be shrinkresist treated.

By refusing to allow the Woolmark symbol to be used on knitwear which does not meet the required washability standard, the board has encouraged the trade to raise the quality of pure wool merchandise.

Consumers have long regarded wool’s ability to shrink as its worst feature, and the new regulation is the half-way stage toward complete machine washability.

The board’s technical manager (Mr M. A. Higgins) said recently that wool was one of the easiest fibres to wash, as dirt fell away quickly on contact with soap and water, but this factor alone was not sufficient. “Housewives want wool to be as easily cared for as other fibres,” said Mr Higgins. “This is what we are giving them. “Our job would be simple

if all washing machines had a ‘wool’ cycle. Woolmark shrink-resist goods are tested on a comparable machine, called a cubex, which is widely used in textile research.

“The standard requires adult outer knitwear to withstand 30 minutes of washing at 105 degrees centigrade in the cubex and not shrink more than 2 per cent in area,” said Mr Higgins. “For children’s wear, underwear and socks the test is more severe.”

In the last two months knitters and spinners have been gearing their production to meet the new standard and a number of shrink-resist yarn processes are now in use.

One process far exceeds the present requirement, resulting in completely machinewashable pure wool goods. However, the necessity to keep Woolmark regulations at similar levels in every country of the world precludes, at this stage, higher washability standards being set. “But the end result will be that in a few more years all pure wool knitwear will be completely machine washable,” said Mr Higgins.