Proper grazing techniques reduce soil erosion, create higher quality wool and reduce the risks of sheep acquiring internal parasites.
There is a growing shortage of qualified sheep shearers. A skilled shearer can remove an entire fleece in one piece within 2-3 minutes.
After a fleece has been shorn, the undesirable parts of the fleece are removed, and set aside for other purposes, in a process called skirting.
Picking separates the fibers in preparation for the carding process. The wool is blended, by color or fiber type, at this stage as well.
A lapper machine layers thin sheets of wool until the desired thickness and width of batting is achieved.
Wool Fiber Production and Processing
Wool is an extraordinary material. A natural protein fiber that begins its life deep in the hair follicles of a sheep's skin, one sheep produces anywhere from 2 to 30 pounds of wool annually. The wool from a sheep is called a fleece, from many sheep, a clip. The amount of wool that a sheep produces depends upon its breed, genetics, nutrition, and shearing interval.
Sheep: The first step in creating quality wool is to raise healthy sheep with proper grazing methods and veterinary practices. By developing mutually beneficial, personal relationships with regional wool growers, we are able to encourage more farmers to adopt such sustainable practices. By guaranteeing premium rates for wool, we are able to be involved in choosing specific blends of wools, and to work with growers to alter their flocks accordingly.
Shearing: Sheep are usually sheared once per year, before lambing, or in the spring on the ranch when temperatures rise and the sheep's winter coat is no longer desired. The skilled shearer uses long smooth strokes to the skin which preserves the length of the fiber and maximizes the value of the fleece.
Skirting, grading and baling: After the fleece is removed from the sheep, the next stage is the skirting table. Here dirtier parts of the fleece from the sheep's underbelly and rear are removed (this less desirable wool is put aside and used for different purposes). Wool is also graded at this time. Wool grade is determined by fiber thickness and the amount of debris in the wool. This information is necessary for the buyer to purchase the correct quality and type of wool. Wool in this stage is called "grease wool" Grease wool is still quite dirty and greasy with lanolin (lanolin is the oil that sheep produce to protect their skin and make their coats waterproof). Skirted and graded wool is stacked and pressed into bales, and marked to identify the source. Each bale contains about 450 lbs. of greased wool from roughly 100 sheep.
Mixing, washing and scouring: Grease wool must be washed in a process called scouring. At the scouring facility, different types of wool are mixed together to create our wool batting. Here, they open the bales of wool, and individually pull out each fleece and skirt the wool one more time. Wool balwes are blended together to ensure that our wool batting will be resilient, fluffy and consistent. Next the wool goes through huge shakers which remove grease (unrefined lanolin), vegetable matter and other impurities still remaining. Our wool is washed with soap that is mild and biodegradable. The wool fleeces passes through tubs with sets of rakes that move the fleeces through a series of scouring tubs of soap and water. At the end of the scouring tubs, the wool fleeces have been rinsed and are dried and baled for delivery to a wool carding mill. After removing so much debris and grease, the raw wool weighs about half as much as it did before scouring.
Wool picking and carding: The first step in carding is to take the compressed, baled wool and run it through a "picker" machine. This pulls the wool apart as it continues to mix and blend the wool. Next the carding process passes the clean wool through wire rollers to straighten out the fibers in one direction and remove any remaining vegetable matter. The rollers vary in diameter and turn at different speeds in order to create a thin web of aligned wool fibers. Finally, the "lapper" machine layers the thin sheets of wool until the desired thickness and width of batting is achieved.
Practices and Standards of Organic Wool Processing
Organic wool processing restricts chemical inputs and requires the separation of organic and non-organic fibers throughout processing stages. All organic wool must be handled separately from non-organic to avoid contamination. Combing and carding machinery must be cleaned of all non-organic fiber prior to processing of the organic fiber, there must not be cross contamination. The above-mentioned must be verified by a recognized, third party certification agency. The wool producers must have detailed record keeping to ensure the wool is stored and how it is handled all the way through the process.
Proper grazing methods: Wool growers cannot exceed the natural capacity of the land, thus preventing the devastating effects of overgrazing. Growers rotate sheep to different pastures to allow vegetation to recover from grazing. Proper techniques reduce soil erosion, create higher quality wool and reduces the risks of sheep acquiring internal parasites.
Healthy veterinary practices: Alternative caring methods are practiced, to keep sheep healthy without harsh chemicals. Generally, sheep raised in open pastures are healthier and require less veterinary care. The elimination of "dipping", a method of controlling parasites by submerging sheep in a toxic pesticide, is key.
Chemical control: No use of herbicides and pesticides on fields where sheep will be grazing. In other words, all wool producers must practice non toxic pest management.
NO carbonizing: Wool fibers are dipped in strong acids to dissolve residual vegetable matter.
NO chemical crimping: After carbonizing, wool fibers are unnaturally straightened and require a chemical "perm" to regain their coiled, crimped structure.
NO bleaching: In order to get the purest white and brightest colors, most wool fiber is bleached and dyed with chemicals. Detergents for wool scouring shall be biodegradable, and water sources must be sustainable (appropriate treatment of waste water).
