WOOL INDUSTRY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 76, Issue 110, 12 May 1933, Page 10

WOOL INDUSTRY

NEW ADVANCES PROGRESS OF RESEARCH WORK AT TORRIDON LONDON, March 31. On March 29, Lord Barnby preside 1 over the annual meeting of the Wool Industries Research Association, at lonidon, Leeds, on which occasion visitors were shown over the laboratories oi 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 pre cess' oil removable without the use of alkalis, are only a fen directions in which csientific 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, tho raw material for which comes from •Continental pine forests, and which is represented in some quarters as a coming competitor of tho 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 order that jute fibres may not mix with tho wool—is regarded as very promising. Sample packs sent to Australia for trial purposes have stood tho test very well in keeping out jute fibres, but according to Dr. S. G. Barker certain other details have yet to be dealt with. Tho method of sewing the packs, for instance, may call for alteration. Further packs arc to be sent overseas in tho 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 than a fewpence per pack. Harmless Oils 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 soap. Another oil. intended for lubrication of machinery, is declared to be incapable of permanently staining material which may bo 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 tho Lancashire cotton industry. experiments are in progress to produce a twistless yarn, and a con siderablo measure of success ia claimed. Such a worsted yarn is stated to bo already a commercial proposition, and work is proceeding on a similar woollen yarn. Tho practical advantages of twistless yarn in the wool textile industry have yet to be tested, hut softer handle and improve] lustre through tho absence of twist arc expected to accrue, and it is suggested that such a yarn would at least add to tho vnrietv of effort for which the industry is always striving. Unshrinkable Goods The association attaches no small importance to the discovery of a nowprocess for rendering wool fabrics unshrinkable—it matter of 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 proces sing. Tho method imparts additional lustre and an improved “h Andie” to the final product, combining soft nos* with a silken sheen. '‘There arc 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. Wo arc among the latter and this process, which is to that end. is no more costly than its counterpart now in use.’’ Passing reference must suffice for a largo number of other scientific investigations calculated to aid tho industry at many stages of manufacture The successful production of sheep marking and dipping flunds which leave no permanent, stain on the wool is well known, and at. the other end of production, progress is reported in sotting up standards of fastness for dyestuffs. Between the two extremes, a hundred and one aids for tjio trade are being devised by scientific research applied to every stage of production. Photogranhv is being cmploved to reveal whether certain <hfabrics will absorb or reflect infra-red rays —in other words, whether a fabric will bo warm or cold In wear. Special apparatus is also in use to tost, the. air-permeability ot fabrics —the extent to which thov are windproof — and the heat-retaining powers of various fvnos of cloth. Now methods of imparting tho soft est possible finish to cloths made from crossbred wools have al road v reached the state of factory trial. Not least 1 interesting of (ho machine experiments i". the attachment of a cotton card tn, a woollen scribbler—a mechanical combination which, from a. wool noil, produces a roving which the French drawing process makes into a wo-* tvpe yarn, albeit from spociallv shot* fibres. This, it is believed. possos«o*dstinct possibilities for the prodiie lion of fMxponsivo socks and similar •oods.