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| Photo credit: Twitter |
Our beautiful and unique planet gives birth to and creates an abundance of matter and goods, thanks to which humans exist as a species along with many other terrestrial inhabitants. However, modern man is moving further and further away from the natural cycles of life and forgetting the benefits of the natural materials with which our ancestors lived even half a century ago. In time of global changes and challenges, allergies and pollution, it is time to go back to our roots and find help and solutions to our problems.
Because the new is often well forgotten old! |
| Photo: Svetlana Kostova |
For millennia, humanity has embraced, protected, and decorated its bodies in clothes created by plants and animals. The undisputed "queen" of textile fibers, of course, is the wool. It plays this leading role due to its irreplaceable physical-mechanical and sanitary-hygienic qualities.
In addition to being of absolutely natural origin, the wool is a wonderful insulator and protects us from temperature extremes such as cold and excessive heat, protects from wind and rain.
Wool is a renewable resource. But it also could be recycled.
Wool is biodegradable. It is part of the natural carbon cycle.
The wool has long life.
Wool is naturally fire resistant and retardant.
But it is resistant to moisture and mold too.
The wool does not contain stains and bacteria.
Wool improves indoor air quality and consumes excess moisture in the room.
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| Photo: Материалознание. С. 1984 г. |
Woolen clothes do not retain body odors and do not need to be washed frequently.
These exceptional beneficial properties are due to the particular construction of the wool fibers.
The top layer that surrounds them is called "flake" (1), below it is the "cork"(2), which forms their skeleton, and the third is in the middle and is called "core" (3)*. The quality of the wool fibers is determined by the ratio of these three layers, and it depends on the breed of the sheep and the conditions of their rearing.
The first two layers are found in all types of fibers, while the core layers are found only in coarse wools. Depending on their construction, the wool fibers are subdivided into four main types: fluffy (1), transient (2), coarse (3) and dead (4)*.
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Photo: Материалознание. С. 1984 г.
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The technological properties of sheep wool, however, determine its four main types: super fine, fine, semi-coarse and coarse wool.
Superfine wool consists only of fluffy fibers. It has a uniform length and milky white color.
Fine wool consists of fluffy and transient fibers. It has more curl than superfine. This is the largest group of wools.
Semi-coarse wool has all three types of wool fibers - fluffy, transient and coarse.
Coarse wool includes in its composition all types of fibers - fluffy, transient, coarse and dead.
No matter what type of wool, it is durable and has a high elasticity. At loadings up to 50% (from strength to rupture) induced deformation is completely reversible. This explains the long term wear of the wool fiber. The high elasticity ot the wool is due to the broken and spiral structure of its molecules.
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| Photo: Материалознание. С. 1984 г. |
The elasticity of the wool fibers is determined by its curl property. The curl causes the woolen fabrics and articles to recover after a high tensile (without breaking). It is also at the heart of its insulating properties. Smooth and flat curls are typical for coarse and semi-coarse wools, and normal for soft and fine merino wools.
The quality of the wool fibers and articles to be fixable is related to their elasticity, that is, when stretched under the influence of warm water or steam they quickly take on their new shape, which they retain even after drying.
Wool also has a unique property. It is due to the flaky wool fiber sheath, which, under mechanical and chemical effects, reacts and produces a greater smoothness and durability of the woven textile or straight finished product, thus omitting the spinning, weaving or knitting operations and creating a so-called felting.
The wool felting abilities depends on the shape and number of flakes in the surface layer, as well as the thickness and curvature of the wool fibers. Very thin and heavily curled wool felts better than slightly curled.
In some cases, when the wool is intended for knitting yarn, this property of the wool is undesirable and therefore the fibers are chemically treated (most commonly with chlorine) to remove the surface flake layer. This causes the keratin to break down and the fibers become "bare".
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| Photo: Svetlana Kostova |
The wool is extremly hygroscopic. It can absorb 30-40% water without being felt by touch. Washed wool has more moisture absorption than unwashed wool. Under standard weather conditions, the moisture in the wool is about 17%.
And one more thing that is of great importance to modern environmentalists, vegetarians and vegans. Obtaining wool is not an act of aggression against animals. On the contrary, a sheep haircut keeps them alive and even makes it easier in the hot months. It is a necessary act of the natural cycle and people acquire a precious commodity.
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| Photo: Svetlana Kostova |
Whether we wear wool as a knit, woven or felted garment or accessory, whether we cover our home and decorate it with woolen fabrics, whether we use fine or coarse wool, the benefits to man of this magical fabric are innumerable!
Remember this and be respectfull to matter wool itself and to those who contributed it to reach you!
Svetlana Kostova -
LAnAArt
Bulgarian artist and freelance teacher in the field of artistic textiles,
Master in the production of artistic fabrics - member of the Bulgarian Chamber of Crafts
FB: @LAnAArts
* Note:
The terms used here are a literal translation from Bulgarian to English and may not correspond to the specific terminology used in the English literature, for which I apologize, since this language is not my mother tongue and my translation is not professional.
My text in Bulgarian is published here: Костова, Светлана. Качества на вълната - "царицата" на влакната. https://svetlanaarts.blogspot.com/2020/01/blog-post.html, <21.01.2020>
References:
Рашенова, Диана. Материалознание. Учебник за I курс на СПТУ по облекло. София : ДИ Техника, 1984 г. (Rashenova, Diana. Material science. Sofia, 1984).
