SYNTHETIC WOOL.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 108, 7 April 1936, Page 4

SYNTHETIC WOOL.

SCIENTIFIC TESTS MADE. MATERIAL TURNS YELLOWISH. The opinion that the meeting of fundamental requirements of a structure which may he expected to reproduce all the properties of- wool has not been fulfilled by the new Italian fibre made from casein is contained in a report by the Wool Industries Research Association, of Leeds, which applied scientific tests to the product. Although it could not be considered a competitor of the natural product, this would not prevent scientific attempts to overcome the difficulties. The experts, agree that it is extremely unlikely that milk wool can be made into compact, warm clothing, and- such articles as blankets, as the Italians apparently believe. On this point the report states:—“The general appearance of the material is similar to that of Merino wool, except that there is no crimp and the feel is harsher.. A microsoopio examination shows a fundamental difference, however. The new-filaments possess no soales, such as are prominent in wool fibres, and which are responsible for the. valuable property of controllable felting, characteristic of natural wool.” The report states that the new filament is not the first; which lias . been made from the casein of milk, or bv regeneration of denatured proteins. When steeped in alkali the wool turns yellowish and some weakening occurs. The significance of this test is that the alkali acts on the fibres in a manner similar tp that of several launderings, so it may be inferred that it will be difficult to retain the original properties of a garment which has to be washed repeatedly. If loaded to the breaking point under water the artificial filaments appear to become quite plastic, and extend considerably, often to double their original length, and break under a load which is only one-quarter to one-eighth that required to break real wool of comparable diameter. This weakness would involve groat difficulties in handling fibres fn tile wet state, for instance, in laundering.