Vicuña wool: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Adding local short description: "Natural animal fiber", overriding Wikidata description "natural animal fiber from the South American vicuña"
defaultsort per WP:SORTKEY, magic links → templates (7), harmonise access-date format per MOS:DATEUNIFY, non-breaking spaces per WP:NBSP (2), number range per WP:NDASH, interpret date, typo(s) fixed: 11-13 → 11–13
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|Natural animal fiber}}
{{Short description|Natural animal fiber}}
[[File:Diferentes_lanas_de_vicu%C3%B1a_-_Conversatorio_Las_Manos_que_Piensan_(Textiles).jpg|thumb|Vicuña wool]]
[[File:Diferentes lanas de vicuña - Conversatorio Las Manos que Piensan (Textiles).jpg|thumb|Vicuña wool]]
'''Vicuña wool''' refers to the [[hair]] of the South American [[vicuña]], an animal of the family of ''[[camelidae]]''. The wool has, after [[shahtoosh]], the second smallest fiber [[diameter]] of all animal hair and is the most expensive legal wool.
'''Vicuña wool''' refers to the [[hair]] of the South American [[vicuña]], an animal of the family of ''[[camelidae]]''. The wool has, after [[shahtoosh]], the second smallest fiber [[diameter]] of all animal hair and is the most expensive legal wool.


== Properties ==
== Properties ==
The [[down hair]] of the vicuña used for the production of vicuña wool is, after shahtoosh (the hair of the Tibetan antelope), one of the finest animal hairs with an average hair diameter of 8-13<ref name="Ekarius">Carol Ekarius: ''The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook.'' Storey Publishing, 2011, ISBN 978-1-60342-764-7, p.&nbsp;381–382.</ref> or 11-13.5 [[micron]]s, respectively.<ref>Hans-Karl Rouette: ''Encyclopedia of textile finishing.'' Woodland, Cambridge 2001, ISBN 1-84569-065-6.</ref> Among animal textile fibers, besides shahtoosh, only the various [[silk]]s and [[byssus]] have a smaller fiber diameter. The surface structure of the fiber has scales as in sheep wool.<ref name="Gardetti">Miguel Angel Gardetti: ''Handbook of Sustainable Luxury Textiles and Fashion.'' Springer, 2015, ISBN 978-981-287-633-1, p.&nbsp;107.</ref> The scale spacing is between 7 and 14 scale rings per 100 microns.<ref name="Muthu">Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu, Miguel Angel Gardetti: ''Sustainable Fibres for Fashion Industry.'' Springer, 2016, ISBN 978-981-10-0522-0, p.&nbsp;20.</ref> The cell arrangement of the fiber is bilateral in [[transmission electron microscopy]] (as also in [[guanaco]] hair), while it is disordered in [[llama]] and [[alpaca]].<ref name="Lewin">Menachem Lewin: ''Handbook of Fiber Chemistry, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded.'' CRC Press, 1998, ISBN 978-0-8247-9471-2, p.&nbsp;403.</ref> In addition, vicuña wool can also be identified by [[mass spectrometry]].<ref name="PMID32770752">E. Price, D. Larrabure, B. Gonzales, P. McClure, E. Espinoza: ''Forensic identification of the keratin fibers of South American camelids by ambient ionization mass spectrometry: Vicuña, alpaca and guanaco.'' In: ''Rapid communications in mass spectrometry : RCM.'' Band 34, Nummer 23, Dezember 2020, S.&nbsp;e8916, {{DOI|10.1002/rcm.8916}}, {{PMID|32770752}}.</ref>
The [[down hair]] of the vicuña used for the production of vicuña wool is, after shahtoosh (the hair of the Tibetan antelope), one of the finest animal hairs with an average hair diameter of 8-13<ref name="Ekarius">Carol Ekarius: ''The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook.'' Storey Publishing, 2011, {{ISBN|978-1-60342-764-7}}, pp.&nbsp;381–382.</ref> or 11–13.5 [[micron]]s, respectively.<ref>Hans-Karl Rouette: ''Encyclopedia of textile finishing.'' Woodland, Cambridge 2001, {{ISBN|1-84569-065-6}}</ref> Among animal textile fibers, besides shahtoosh, only the various [[silk]]s and [[byssus]] have a smaller fiber diameter. The surface structure of the fiber has scales as in sheep wool.<ref name="Gardetti">Miguel Angel Gardetti: ''Handbook of Sustainable Luxury Textiles and Fashion.'' Springer, 2015, {{ISBN|978-981-287-633-1}}, p.&nbsp;107.</ref> The scale spacing is between 7 and 14 scale rings per 100 microns.<ref name="Muthu">Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu, Miguel Angel Gardetti: ''Sustainable Fibres for Fashion Industry.'' Springer, 2016, {{ISBN|978-981-10-0522-0}}, p.&nbsp;20.</ref> The cell arrangement of the fiber is bilateral in [[transmission electron microscopy]] (as also in [[guanaco]] hair), while it is disordered in [[llama]] and [[alpaca]].<ref name="Lewin">Menachem Lewin: ''Handbook of Fiber Chemistry, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded.'' CRC Press, 1998, {{ISBN|978-0-8247-9471-2}}, p.&nbsp;403.</ref> In addition, vicuña wool can also be identified by [[mass spectrometry]].<ref name="PMID32770752">E. Price, D. Larrabure, B. Gonzales, P. McClure, E. Espinoza: ''Forensic identification of the keratin fibers of South American camelids by ambient ionization mass spectrometry: Vicuña, alpaca and guanaco.'' In: ''Rapid communications in mass spectrometry : RCM.'' Band 34, Nummer 23, Dezember 2020, S.&nbsp;e8916, {{DOI|10.1002/rcm.8916}}, {{PMID|32770752}}</ref>


== Extraction and processing ==
== Extraction and processing ==
[[File:Vicunacrop2.jpg|thumb|Vicuña]]
[[File:Vicunacrop2.jpg|thumb|Vicuña]]
[[File:Ruana.JPG|thumb|[[Ruana]] made of vicuña wool]]
[[File:Ruana.JPG|thumb|[[Ruana]] made of vicuña wool]]
The [[Inca]]s herded vicuñas by the tens of thousands into [[Pen (enclosure)|Pens]], [[Shearing|sheared]] the wool for the exclusive use of high nobles, and then released the animals. The Spanish did not continue this tradition. They shot vicuñas in large numbers and often poisoned their waterholes, first to make room for pasture and only later for the fur. Nowadays vicuñas are a [[protected species]]. In Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina they are kept free-ranging in [[national park]]s for commercial use, and more rarely in extensive enclosures (especially in Argentina).<ref name="Gardetti" /><ref name="Ekarius" /> In 2009, 5500 to 6000 [[kilogram]]s of vicuña wool were harvested worldwide.<ref name="Muthu">Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu, Miguel Angel Gardetti: ''Sustainable Fibres for Fashion Industry.'' Springer, 2016, ISBN 978-981-10-0522-0, p.&nbsp;20.</ref> The hair of the vicuña is used to make a variety of products.
The [[Inca]]s herded vicuñas by the tens of thousands into [[Pen (enclosure)|Pens]], [[Shearing|sheared]] the wool for the exclusive use of high nobles, and then released the animals. The Spanish did not continue this tradition. They shot vicuñas in large numbers and often poisoned their waterholes, first to make room for pasture and only later for the fur. Nowadays vicuñas are a [[protected species]]. In Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina they are kept free-ranging in [[national park]]s for commercial use, and more rarely in extensive enclosures (especially in Argentina).<ref name="Ekarius" /><ref name="Gardetti" /> In 2009, 5500 to 6000 [[kilogram]]s of vicuña wool were harvested worldwide.<ref name="Muthu"/> The hair of the vicuña is used to make a variety of products.


The hair of the vicuña is sheared in pens after a traditional roundup ("chaccu"). A wool with an average fiber length of 2-4 cm is obtained. The weight of shorn wool hairs per animal is about 250 g<ref>Kirsten M. Silvius' ''People in Nature''. Columbia University Press, 2012. ISBN 978-0-231-50208-5, p. 164</ref> to 450 g,<ref name="Ekarius" /> after removal of unwanted guard hairs from the down hair.<ref name="Ekarius" /> Before processing, the down hair is separated from the [[guard hair]] by sorting.
The hair of the vicuña is sheared in pens after a traditional roundup ("chaccu"). A wool with an average fiber length of 2–4&nbsp;cm is obtained. The weight of shorn wool hairs per animal is about 250&nbsp;g<ref>Kirsten M. Silvius' ''People in Nature''. Columbia University Press, 2012. {{ISBN|978-0-231-50208-5}}, p. 164</ref> to 450&nbsp;g,<ref name="Ekarius" /> after removal of unwanted guard hairs from the down hair.<ref name="Ekarius" /> Before processing, the down hair is separated from the [[guard hair]] by sorting.
After sorting the wool, the down hairs are [[Spinning (textiles)|spun]] into [[yarn]] and [[Weaving|woven]] or [[Knitting|knitted]] into [[textile]]s. Vicuña wool is considered the rarest and most expensive legal wool in the world; in 2010, it traded for about 7-15 Dollars per [[ounce]].<ref>BBC: [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11069726 ''How Peru's 'Andean rodeo' is helping save the vicuna.''] In: ''BBC News.'' (2010). Accessed 21 Januar 2013.</ref> It is usually processed in its natural color, as the structure of vicuña hair suffers from [[bleaching]] or [[dyeing]].<ref name="Gumiel Conzelmann">Katherine Gumiel Conzelmann: ''Dyeing Effects on Physical Properties of Vicuña & Other Luxury Specialty Fibers.'' 2015, ISBN 978-1-339-26038-9.</ref> Northern populations of vicuñas display a more cinnamon-like coat color on the back, southern ones a beige hue; the hair on the belly represents a smaller portion that is much lighter in color.<ref name="Ekarius" /> In addition to knitted [[sweater]]s and [[sock]]s, vicuña wool is also used to weave [[fabric]]s that are made into exclusive tailored clothing. A sport coat can cost up to $ 21,000, a made-to-measure suit starts at $ 32,000.<ref name="Coggins">{{cite web|author=David Coggins |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323392204579073090614851288 |title=Why Does a Vicuña Jacket Cost $21,000? |journal=[[Wall Street Journal]] |date=2013-09-20 |access-date=2022-10-27}}</ref> In Peru, three companies are licensed to harvest vicuña wool legally: [[Loro Piana]], Agnona and Incalpaca TPX.<ref name="Coggins" />
After sorting the wool, the down hairs are [[Spinning (textiles)|spun]] into [[yarn]] and [[Weaving|woven]] or [[Knitting|knitted]] into [[textile]]s. Vicuña wool is considered the rarest and most expensive legal wool in the world; in 2010, it traded for about 7-15 Dollars per [[ounce]].<ref>BBC: [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11069726 ''How Peru's 'Andean rodeo' is helping save the vicuna.''] In: ''BBC News.'' (2010). Accessed 2013-01-21.</ref> It is usually processed in its natural color, as the structure of vicuña hair suffers from [[bleaching]] or [[dyeing]].<ref name="Gumiel Conzelmann">Katherine Gumiel Conzelmann: ''Dyeing Effects on Physical Properties of Vicuña & Other Luxury Specialty Fibers.'' 2015, {{ISBN|978-1-339-26038-9}}</ref> Northern populations of vicuñas display a more cinnamon-like coat color on the back, southern ones a beige hue; the hair on the belly represents a smaller portion that is much lighter in color.<ref name="Ekarius" /> In addition to knitted [[sweater]]s and [[sock]]s, vicuña wool is also used to weave [[fabric]]s that are made into exclusive tailored clothing. A sport coat can cost up to $21,000, a made-to-measure suit starts at $32,000.<ref name="Coggins">{{cite web|author=David Coggins |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323392204579073090614851288 |title=Why Does a Vicuña Jacket Cost $21,000? |journal=[[Wall Street Journal]] |date=2013-09-20 |access-date=2022-10-27}}</ref> In Peru, three companies are licensed to harvest vicuña wool legally: [[Loro Piana]], Agnona and Incalpaca TPX.<ref name="Coggins" />


== Cleaning ==
== Cleaning ==
Line 20: Line 20:
<references />
<references />


{{DEFAULTSORT:Vicuña wool}}
[[Category:Animal hair products]]
[[Category:Animal hair products]]

Revision as of 13:08, 27 October 2022

Vicuña wool

Vicuña wool refers to the hair of the South American vicuña, an animal of the family of camelidae. The wool has, after shahtoosh, the second smallest fiber diameter of all animal hair and is the most expensive legal wool.

Properties

The down hair of the vicuña used for the production of vicuña wool is, after shahtoosh (the hair of the Tibetan antelope), one of the finest animal hairs with an average hair diameter of 8-13[1] or 11–13.5 microns, respectively.[2] Among animal textile fibers, besides shahtoosh, only the various silks and byssus have a smaller fiber diameter. The surface structure of the fiber has scales as in sheep wool.[3] The scale spacing is between 7 and 14 scale rings per 100 microns.[4] The cell arrangement of the fiber is bilateral in transmission electron microscopy (as also in guanaco hair), while it is disordered in llama and alpaca.[5] In addition, vicuña wool can also be identified by mass spectrometry.[6]

Extraction and processing

Vicuña
Ruana made of vicuña wool

The Incas herded vicuñas by the tens of thousands into Pens, sheared the wool for the exclusive use of high nobles, and then released the animals. The Spanish did not continue this tradition. They shot vicuñas in large numbers and often poisoned their waterholes, first to make room for pasture and only later for the fur. Nowadays vicuñas are a protected species. In Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina they are kept free-ranging in national parks for commercial use, and more rarely in extensive enclosures (especially in Argentina).[1][3] In 2009, 5500 to 6000 kilograms of vicuña wool were harvested worldwide.[4] The hair of the vicuña is used to make a variety of products.

The hair of the vicuña is sheared in pens after a traditional roundup ("chaccu"). A wool with an average fiber length of 2–4 cm is obtained. The weight of shorn wool hairs per animal is about 250 g[7] to 450 g,[1] after removal of unwanted guard hairs from the down hair.[1] Before processing, the down hair is separated from the guard hair by sorting. After sorting the wool, the down hairs are spun into yarn and woven or knitted into textiles. Vicuña wool is considered the rarest and most expensive legal wool in the world; in 2010, it traded for about 7-15 Dollars per ounce.[8] It is usually processed in its natural color, as the structure of vicuña hair suffers from bleaching or dyeing.[9] Northern populations of vicuñas display a more cinnamon-like coat color on the back, southern ones a beige hue; the hair on the belly represents a smaller portion that is much lighter in color.[1] In addition to knitted sweaters and socks, vicuña wool is also used to weave fabrics that are made into exclusive tailored clothing. A sport coat can cost up to $21,000, a made-to-measure suit starts at $32,000.[10] In Peru, three companies are licensed to harvest vicuña wool legally: Loro Piana, Agnona and Incalpaca TPX.[10]

Cleaning

Like all protein-based fibers (wool, silk), products made from Vikunja wool are cleaned by dry cleaning (water-free) or by hand in lukewarm water with a mild detergent. Detergents which contain bleach or enzymes (protein-degrading enzymes) are unsuitable, as they damage the hair structure. In the case of hydrophilic textiles, such as textiles made of wool, water contact can lead to thread shortening and thus to shrinkage of the textile due to swelling and the shrinkage that follows during drying. Due to a tendency to felting, textiles made of vicuña wool should not be wrung or rubbed.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Carol Ekarius: The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook. Storey Publishing, 2011, ISBN 978-1-60342-764-7, pp. 381–382.
  2. ^ Hans-Karl Rouette: Encyclopedia of textile finishing. Woodland, Cambridge 2001, ISBN 1-84569-065-6
  3. ^ a b Miguel Angel Gardetti: Handbook of Sustainable Luxury Textiles and Fashion. Springer, 2015, ISBN 978-981-287-633-1, p. 107.
  4. ^ a b Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu, Miguel Angel Gardetti: Sustainable Fibres for Fashion Industry. Springer, 2016, ISBN 978-981-10-0522-0, p. 20.
  5. ^ Menachem Lewin: Handbook of Fiber Chemistry, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded. CRC Press, 1998, ISBN 978-0-8247-9471-2, p. 403.
  6. ^ E. Price, D. Larrabure, B. Gonzales, P. McClure, E. Espinoza: Forensic identification of the keratin fibers of South American camelids by ambient ionization mass spectrometry: Vicuña, alpaca and guanaco. In: Rapid communications in mass spectrometry : RCM. Band 34, Nummer 23, Dezember 2020, S. e8916, doi:10.1002/rcm.8916, PMID 32770752
  7. ^ Kirsten M. Silvius' People in Nature. Columbia University Press, 2012. ISBN 978-0-231-50208-5, p. 164
  8. ^ BBC: How Peru's 'Andean rodeo' is helping save the vicuna. In: BBC News. (2010). Accessed 2013-01-21.
  9. ^ Katherine Gumiel Conzelmann: Dyeing Effects on Physical Properties of Vicuña & Other Luxury Specialty Fibers. 2015, ISBN 978-1-339-26038-9
  10. ^ a b David Coggins (2013-09-20). "Why Does a Vicuña Jacket Cost $21,000?". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2022-10-27.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vicuña_wool&oldid=1118521549"