I.W.S. policy on wool blends

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32461, 23 November 1970, Page 14

I.W.S. policy on wool blends

'“There is no substitute for wool”, the advertisements of the International Wool Secretariat once confidently proclaimed. That slogan was dropped about 10 years ago; but the Woolmark campaign of the 1960 s was based on the same philosophy; only products of pure, virgin wool qualified for the Woolmark. More recently, the IW.S. has lent discreet support to the promotion of selected products using blended fibres, such as wool-and-cotton kimonos in Japan, and “80/20” wool-and-synthetic carpets in Europe (but not in New Zealand). A far more radical departure from the “ pure wool, nothing-but-wool ” approach to marketing is implied in the announcement this week by the LW.S. that it would do research into blends of synthetic fibres with wool. An influential section of the textile trade, and some independent observers, have argued for some time that wool interests should stop fighting artificial fibres and join them—at least in the production and marketing of those products where blends have technical or financial advantages over fibres of either pure wool or pure synthetics. Mr Albert Prouvost, one of the leading industrialists in the French textile industry, said in an interview in August this year that blended fibres accounted for about 50 per cent of the output of his Roubaix mill “Tve been “ fighting with the LW.S. about blends—they should “put more money and publicity behind them”, he said. Now that Mr Prouvost’s “ fight ” with the LW.S. is presumably over, it is interesting to recall some of his other observations at that time. Some blends, he said, had as little as 30 per cent of wool in them, and he regarded this as a dangerously low level for quality. In the long term he saw blends acting, in a sense, as a guarantee of wool’s future. Since wool improved the blend, there would always be a place for it The Woolmark programme had been an “ undoubted success ”, but he was not yet convinced about grower-sponsored technical effort; the test of this work was still to come. He advocated close co-operation on research and development with the big mills of the world. Looking 10 years ahead he saw no reason why wool should not justify a 20 to 25 per cent premium over synthetic fibres. Such arguments as these have evidently influenced the LW.S. in agreeing to finance research into blends. The secretariat should also examine the feasibility of drawing up specifications for the production of blended fibres and products made from these blends; it should also find ways of encouraging manufacturers to maintain adequate technical standards. Obviously, the production of blends of “ dangerously low ” quality is not in the best interests of the wool industry. Now that the LW.S. has adopted a more realistic policy towards blended fibres, New Zealand woolgrowers can hope that their fleeces will eventually find their way into end-uses and markets which hitherto have been largely denied to them.