Wool recycling
Recycled or in other terms remanufactured wool historically generated
from loosely woven materials. Benjamin Law has invented the shoddy and mungo in
England in 1813. He was the first one on the large scale to collect old clothes
and grind them into a fibrous state that could be re-spun into yarns.
Wool recycling process is similar to the cotton recycling process.
Recycled wool is a natural fiber reusing pre-consumer or post-consumer wool
waste. The pre-consumer wool waste is the waste that is left during the process
of manufacturing new garments, for example leftovers from factory cutting
rooms, excess/ unsold production. Post-consumer waste is coming from the consumer’s
household, for example home textile and used apparel.
The process of recycling wool first starts with separation and sorting
by color and quality. Afterwards the items are placed into the stripping machines
which brake the fabric into pieces. The fibers are then pulled apart and the
fiber mixture is carded several times to clean and mix the fibers before
spinning them into the yarns. The
carding process allows using even the sort fibers and it blends them into the
most variable compositions the result of this is that the yarn has the particular
aspect and properties differing to commonly used worsted yarn. The recycles
wool may be mixed with raw wool, wool noil, or other fibers
such as cotton and the meaning of this mix is to increase the average fiber length.
This type of yarns is usually used as weft yarns with cotton warp. [1][2]
Also I have found an interesting article about wool recycling:
Cardato
regenerated co2 neutral is the world’s first certified ‘zero
emissions’ textile product. It is made with recycled wool from the Prato
District and has limited impact on the environment. Carbon emissions are
calculated and then offset through the purchase of green credits.
Carding is a specific way of processing fibers.
The yarns are produced using virgin fibers but also reusing fibers obtained
from recycling old clothing or knits, and cuttings of new fabrics used in the
garment industry. The important feature of this process is that it can use
short fibers and different lengths, in blends of the most variable composition.
The result is a yarn with a particular aspect that distinguishes it from the
other type of yarn knows as worsted.
Regenerated wool provided, for over a century, a phenomenal opportunity for the development and growth of the textile district of Prato on world markets.
Regenerated wool provided, for over a century, a phenomenal opportunity for the development and growth of the textile district of Prato on world markets.
The techniques of the “recycling process” in
addition to being fascinating to watch indicate a culture that has concern for
the environment, respect for human resources and a tradition of skill and
serious professional entrepreneurship.
The use of regenerated fibers has been neglected in recent years with the discovery of new synthetics and the growing demand for more expensive virgin fibers, partly as the response to expanding economies and also to the new consumer logic.
The use of regenerated fibers has been neglected in recent years with the discovery of new synthetics and the growing demand for more expensive virgin fibers, partly as the response to expanding economies and also to the new consumer logic.
In the carding process, this has led to
increased creativity and the production of yarns that are even more unusual and
precious in compositions with an inimitable fashion content. We now have
“carded products in cashmere, angora, alpaca, mohair or other fine wools in
blends with silk and viscose.
SORTING
The used clothing or cuttings of new fabrics
used by the garment industry are sorted according to quality and color. In some
cases linings, buttons, zippers, etc., have to be removed from the clothing.
This is an important aspect of the process where the “hand and eye” of the
expert worker are essential.
CARBONIZING
Carbonizing is a process that eliminates any
vegetable impurities from the wool. Rags and cuttings are dry cleaned with
hydrochloric acid, while new wool fiber is soaked in sulfuric acid. The treated
fabrics or staples are then beaten to eliminate the carbonized particles.
TEARING
In this
process, the rags become fiber again by being mechanically torn and washed: the
two operations are carried out in tanks where the rags are forced by the
current of the water through two pairs of cylinders with steel teeth that tear
them. The fiber in then dried.[3]
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