Wool fabric was developed in the region of the Mediterranean Sea around 4000 B.C. The first wool mill was founded around 50 A.D. in Winchester England by Romans. Wool comes from around 40 different breeds of sheep which can yield approximately 200 different types of wool standards.
In 1797 the British brought 13 merino sheep to Australia. This began the Merino sheep industry which is now the standard for most wool worldwide.
There are four major steps in developing the wool from a sheep to the final wool fabric. Shearing, sorting and grading, making the yarn and finally the weaving of the fabric. The first process is shearing, which usually is done once a year in either early spring or summer.
After the sheep have been sheared, the wool is then sorted and graded by thickness, strength, waviness and color. Once the wool is graded into the different levels of quality, then the wool is washed with detergents to remove the impurities. Once dried the wool is carded. This process is done by machines with rollers that have thin wire teeth that comb and untangle the fibers into a thin flat sheet called a web. The web is then formed into narrow ropes known as silvers. The silvers are then made into yarn and woven to make the wool fabric.
Over the coming months we will describe in detail the makeup and process of the various wool fabrics currently available today.