TORRIDON RESEARCH STATION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21952, 13 May 1933, Page 17

TORRIDON RESEARCH STATION

WORK UNDER DR S. G. BARKER UNSHRINKABLE WOOLLENS SOFT FINISH TO CLOTH. (From Our Own Cobbespondent.) LONDON, March 31. On March 29, Lord Barnby presided over the annual meeting of the Wool Industries Research Association, at Torn* .don, Leeds, on which occasion visitors were shown over the laboratories of the association, seeing something of the valuable work which is being carried out for the benefit of the industry. A new process to vest wool fabrics with unshrinkable properties, efforts to perfect the jute woolpack, and the production .of a wool process oil removable without the use of alkalis, arc only a few. directions in which scientific progress is being made at Torridon, under Dr S. G. Barker. In a special article, the Yorkshire Post gives its readers the accompanying information; — “Much has recently been heard of the paper-canvas woolpack, the raw material for which comes from Continental pine forests, and which is represented in some quarters as a coming competitor of the jute pack now in universal use.. The view held at Torridon. is that cost is likely to be an obstacle in the way of the paper pack, and the Research Association is directing its efforts to perfection, of the jute pack. In this, the association has been encouraged by the Government, and jute trade interests in India, and progress on the lines of impregnating the jute pack with cellulose or rubber latex in in order that jute fibres may not mix with the wool—is regarded as very promising. , “Sample packs sent to Australia for trial purposes have stood the test very well in keeping out jute fibres, but accoring to Dr S. G. Barker certain other details have yet to be dealt with. The method of sewing the packs, for instance, may call for alteration. Further packs are to be sent overseas in the near future, and it is believed they will survive the next test in such a manner as to make the idea ready for commercial development. The additional cost of treating the jute pack, to remove the risk of jute fibres entering the wool, is estimated at not more t'-an a few pence per pack. NEW OILS AND TWISTLESS YARNS.

“ Extensive claims are made for two new oils evolved in the laboratories at Torridon. One of them, intended for oiling wool before carding and spinning, has been subjected to a secret process as a result of which it mixes with water, and, if need be, can be removed without alkali. Visitors, invited to put their fingers into such oil, could remove all traces of- it by the use of water, without oil, intended for lubrication of machinery, is declared to be . incapable of permanently staining material which may be passing through the machine. This, though not yet commercially available, is undergoing bulk tests in a Yorkshire factory. ... “In co-operation with similar research in the Lancashire cotton industry, experiments are in progress to produce a twistless yarn, and a considerable measure of success is claimed. Such a worsted yarn is stated to be already a commercial proposition, and work is proceeding on a similar woollen yarn. The practical advantages of twistless yarn in the wool textile industry have yet to be tested, but softer handle and improved lustre through the absence of twist arc expected to accrue, and it is suggested that such a yarn would at least add to the variety of effect for which the industry is always striving.” UNSHRINKABLE WOOL GOODS. The association attaches no small importance to the discovery of a new process for rendering wool fabrics unshrinkable —a matter ot special importance to the hosiery and knitted goods trades. The method is not disclosed, though one understands that whilst most _ processes with this end in view are applied to the finished fabric, this one is a new method of treating the wool at an early stage of processing. The method imparts additional lustre and an improved “handle to the final product, combining softness with a silken sheen. “There are some who would like to produce artificial wool,” says Dr Barker, “ and others who would like to see a silk finish on wool which is unshrinkable. We are among the latter, and this process, which is to that end, is no more costly than its counterpart now in use. OTHER ACTIVITIES.

Passing reference must suffice for a large number of other scientific investigations calculated to aid the industry at many stages of manufacture. The successful production of sheep-marking and dipping fluids which leave no permanent stain on the wool is well known, and, at the other end of production, progress is reported in setting up standards of fastness for dyestuffs. Between the two extremes a hundred and one aids for the trade are being devised by scientific research applied to every stage of production. Photography is being employed to reveal whether certain dyed fabrics will absorb or reflect infra-red rays—in other words,-whether a fabric will be warm or cold in wear. Special is also in use to test the air-permeability of fabrics —the extent to which they are windproof nod the heat - retaining powers of various types of cloth. New methods of imparting the softest possible finish to cloths made from crossbred wools have already reached the stage of factory trial. Not least interesting of the machine experiments is the attachment of a cotton card to a woollen scribbler—a mechanical combination which, from a wool noil, produces a roving which the French drawing process makes into a worsted type of yarn, albeit from specially short fibres. This, it is believed possesses distinct possibilities for the production of inexpensive socks and similar goods.