Wool—it’s wonderfully warm for winter

Press, 28 June 1983, Page 18

Wool—it’s wonderfully warm for winter

What would winter be without wool? It would probably be colder and far less cosy because you would not have woollen clothes to wear, woollen blankets on your bed or woollen carpet to sink your toes into. Wool is one of the most successful substances used for keeping people warm. People to whom warmth is vital, including climbers, farmers, mountaineers and others who spend a lot of time exposed to the weather, know how important it is. Wool is also important to New Zealand because it is one of our main exports. New Zealand is the world’s second biggest exporter of wool — only Australia exports more. The Soviet Union also produces a lot of wool, but most of this is used by the Russians themselves. China buys more New Zealand wool than any other country. Japan and Britain also buy a lot. Captain James Cook brought the first sheep to New Zealand in 1773. He left the two sheep — a ram and a ewe — in the Queen .Charlotte Sounds at the top of the South Island, but they did not survive. Our sheep population was really established when British settlers brought sheep here in the 1830 s. Those sheep certainly thrived — there are now 70 million sheep in New Zealand on about 28,000 farms. More than three-quarters of these are either Romneys or a cross between Romneys and other breeds. Their wool is usually heavy and is used for making carpets and heavy clothing. Some other breeds, such as Corriedales, have lighter wool which is mainly used for knitted and woven garments. Origins Although the first New Zealand sheep were brought here from Britain, sheep originally came from around the Mediterranean Sea. The buying and selling of wool probably began in

that area as early as 4000 B.C. Several thousand years ago there was a big sheep industry in Mesopotamia (now called Iraq), and traders from Phoenicia (today’s Lebanon) took wool and the art of weaving to many other countries. In Babylon, which was also an ancient country in the Middle East, the people made fabrics from wool at about the same time. The name Babylon means “land of wool.” The ancient Romans took sheep to Britain and Europe when they were part of the Roman Empire. The process Wool may look warm and soft on the sheep’s back, but it has a long way to go before it is made into carpets, yarn or clothing. The sheep are usually shorn with electric shears. But some shearers still use hand blades which look rather like small hedge clippers. The pieces of wool, called fleeces, are packed up in bales according to what grade (type and quality) they are. The bales are filled under pressure so that as many fleeces as possible will fit into them. The wool is sold at auctions, which are attended by local buyers and representatives for other countries. In Christchurch this is done at the wool exchange in Addington. When the wool reaches the woollen mill, whether it has been shipped overseas or sent to a New Zealand mill, it is washed first. This removes any dust, dirt or pieces of grass that may have been caught in it while it was still on the sheep’s back. It also removes some of the natural oils which make the wool greasy. Some of these oils, including lanolin, are saved and used for making cosmetics and soap. Because the fibres of

the wool become tangled in the bales and during washing, the wool has to be untangled. This is done on a carding machine. When the wool comes out of the carding machine, it is weak and can be easily pulled apart. So it is spun to turn it into thin, strong yarn. The spinning machine twists the strands of wool together and then winds the yarn on to bobbins. Some of this yarn is sold as knitting wool, so it only has to be dyed and put

into balls. But a lot of the wool is woven to make fabric. Weaving is done on big looms, which can make fine cloth for clothing or thicker cloth for blankets. Carpet is made at separate factories where it is spun and dyed according to the type of carpet wanted. Some people not only like to knit, but do their own carding and spinning as well. Hand carding is done by rubbing the wool between two spiked pieces

of wood, which look like table tennis bats covered in nails. Spinning on a spinning wheel may take longer than the process used in factories, but it is a popular pastime and has been done for thousands of years. Although the wool in your jersey, blanket, or woollen garment may by now be quite different from the wool on the sheep, it does the same job. Both you and the sheep will be kept warm on cold winter days.