Wool classing

Wool Classing is a profession designed for the sole purpose of grading the spinning capacity or designated purpose for the wool produced. This is carried out by examining the characteristics of the wool in its raw state. The characteristics which a wool classer may examine are:

Wool crimp: The number of bends per unit length along the wool fiber approximately indicates spinning capacity of the wool. Fibers with a fine crimp have many bends and usually have a small diameter. Such fibers can be spun into fine yarns, with great lengths of yarn for a given weight of wool, and greater market value. Fine fibres may be utilised in the production of fine garments such as men's suits whereas the coarser fibres may be used for the production of carpet and other sturdy products. Crimp is measured in crimps per inch or crimps per centimetre. Average diameter or mean fibre diameter is measured in microns which is one millionth of a metre. For generations, English wool-handlers categorized wool along the above lines estimating spinning capacity by eye and touch. This spread worldwide as the Bradford system.--Sawyer12477 16:35, 27 April 2007 (UTC)Sawyer 12477

Wool Strength (also known as tensile strength) determines wool's ability to withstand processing. Weaker wools produce more waste in carding & spinning. Weaker wools may be used for production of felt etc.

Wool color: Indicates whether wool is able to be dyed in light shades. Color may be graded depending upon the natural color, impurities and various stains present. Severely stained wool decreases prices dramatically. However, it is difficult to assess colour accurately without proper measurement, since some stains will wash out in the processing, whereas others are quite persistent.

The parts of wool taken from a sheep are graded separately. The fleece forming the bulk of the yield is placed with other fleece wool as the main line, other pieces such as the neck, belly and skirtings (inferior wool from edges) are placed together and sold for such purposes where the shorter wools are required. (for example fillings, carpets, insulation) Whilst in some places crimp may determine which grade the fleece will be placed into, this subjective assessment is not always reliable and processors prefer that wools are measured objectively by qualified laboratories. This enables primary producers to place wool into bales of consistent quality, to send for sale, thus maximising returns by selling the wool according to quality and weight.