Wool Fiber

The use of wool for clothing dates back to antiquity. Outstanding properties of wrinkle resistance, moisture absorption, warmth, and tendency to feel, have given it a role, not only in apparel, but also in blankets, upholstery, and floor coverings. Babylonia is translated by some as meaning ‘the land of wool’. It is known that the

Phoenicians traded wool fabric during the first millennium BC. The Ancient Romans established wool factories to supply their army; the fame of these factories was spread by the travels of Roman soldiers. In Britain, the wool flocks were scattered by the incoming Saxons and the wool trade there then went into decline. The Normans re-established the trade and it developed for a time, although there seems to have been little progress through the dark ages; it was not until after the seventeenth century that structural changes started to occur. After many struggles over restraints in trade, wool was very important in England in the eighteenth century. Spain too was a major producer but its government had enforced rigid restrictions on the export of fleeces at about that time.

In times of rapid technological change, many are left behind. Mechanization in the Low Countries and Britain in the nineteenth century permitted spinners in these regions to out-produce those who had not embraced the emerging technologies. There was then a vast opening-up of the supply of raw wool from the western and southern hemispheres. It was the combination of a plentiful supply of raw material and high productivity of people and machines that produced the displacement of the centers of production and the sites of the markets changed also. Now, many of the industrial companies then formed have, in turn, been overtaken by new technology and economic changes. The development of synthetic fibers and new processes has created a new situation; the market in wool has declined somewhat even in the last decade. Despite this, the world consumes about 1.5 million tons of wool per year, and its value is greater than the weight might suggest. Australia abolished its price support in the 1980s and prices globally were determined more than before by market forces. In the decade centered on 1990, prices plummeted, but supply is now in better balance with demand and there is hope for expansion. China is now a large consumer.

A remarkable feature of wool is its ability to recover from deformation over time, and this gives apparel made from fibers attractive crease-shedding properties. Also, the rate at which the fiber takes up and disperses moisture is such that it gives clothes made from wool good comfort properties. These inherent properties give wool an attraction that is likely to guarantee it a place in the world market; the main question is how much of that market it will retain.