Reused wool

Description

The supply of raw wool each year in insufficient to meet the world demand. Thus some wool that has previously been made into yarns or fabrics is reused. The waster fabrics or yarns are sorted, oiled then teased into fibers. Recovered wool is classified as (Cook 1984):

• shoddy: wool recovered from unfelted fabrics such as tweeds, knits and worsteds.
• mungo: wool recovered from felted fabrics such as velours or melton.
• extract: wool recovered from wool blend fabrics.

Reused wool fibers are inferior to new, or fleece, fibers. Recovered fibers are often mixed with fleece fibers for low to medium quality fabrics. Fabrics that contain no reused wool will be marked as virgin wool.

Synonyms and Related Terms

used wool; recovered wool; shoddy; mungo; extract wool; lana reutilizada (Esp.)

Resources and Citations

• Rosalie Rosso King, Textile Identification, Conservation, and Preservation, Noyes Publications, Park Ridge, NJ, 1985

• J.Gordon Cook, Handbook of Textile Fibres:I Natural Fibres, Merrow Publishing Co. , Durham, England, 1984