WOOL FOR UPHOLSTERY

Taranaki Daily News, 23 December 1932, Page 7

WOOL FOR UPHOLSTERY

TO HELP THE SHEEP FARMER.

HELD BETTER THAN KAPOC. “Use more wool” is a catch phrase that may well be used frequently to follow up the publicity given, by the wool week in the larger New Zealand towns last April and the display at the Hawera winter show. Increased local consumption is one method that will afford some relief to the sheepfarmer and a way in which this is being effected is the substitution of kapoc ’by wool as upholstery. That wool is a superior material for the purpose is the opinion expressed by a retired sheep farmer of New Plymouth. A New . Plymouth furniture .'manufacturer supports the contention, and states that firms have been using increasing quantities of wooL' ....

One of‘ - the virtues which properly , cleaned and scoured wool held over, kapoc was its durability, said the manu-: facturer. In four or five years kapoc, was useless, but wool was as good as. new at the end of that time. In point of conffort wool was superior to kapoc. The wool mattress was cooler, r softer and did not develop any lumps. Doctors stated that for patients suffering from such troubles la's asthma, wool was greatly preferable as it did not give off dust. Workers with kapoc were always compelled to wear masks to prevent the: dust getting into their lungs but workers with wool needed no protection. There would be less fire risk with wool. It was true that scoured and cleaned lambs’ wool, which was the best kind to use, was slightly dearer than kapoc, comparative prices being a shilling and tenpence per lb. Kapoc was slightly more bulky. Against this, however, was the wool’s superior qualities, its greater durability and the fact that by using it New Zealand producers were being , assisted. All the kapoc used in New'Zealand came from Java, a country which held an adverse exchange rate of 47 per cent.

Wool, it is stated, is more used in the manufacture of mattresses and furniture upholstery in the South’ Island than in the North. This is because only the South Island woollen mills scour and clean the wool to the requirements of manufacturers. The ’ wooL. for' this purpose from the North. Island mills . does not come up to standard. In 1931 the value of kapoc imported into New Zealand from Java was .£57,000, and in previous years the - value was even greater. If the merits of wool were sufficiently demonstrated in New Zealand the possibility would exist of an export trade.