QUALITIES OF WOOL

Southland Times, Issue 23610, 10 September 1938, Page 4

QUALITIES OF WOOL

SIMULATION DIFFICULT However closely it may be simulated in appearance, natural wool has qualities which it will be most difficult, if not impossible, for the chemist and manufacturer to reproduce in artificial fibre. It has a tensile strength and resiliency which is possessed by no other fibre, whether of vegetable or artificial origin, and which is absolutely essential because it permits materials made from it to stretch and contract with the movements of the body without losing their shape or strength. This assures long wear and service. Under the microscope a single fibre of real wool resembles the slender branch of a tree with overlapping bark scales similar to the scales of a fish. These

form a hard yet flexible outer skin, beneath winch is a honeycomb structure of tiny elongated cells each cunningly morticed into its neighbours. Into the fissures or cracks between these cells moisture can be absorbed, and the cushions of air which normally occupy these spaces act as an insulator conserving the body heat and repelling cold.

Once the outer scales are removed by chemical treatment, or broken and frayed by long wear, the softer inner structure of cells is laid bare and the fabric soon loses entirely its tensile strength, and resiliency.