All fine wool fabrics are beautiful, soft, pliable, and resilient materials woven from sheep, camels, goats, alpacas, musk oxen, rabbits, and lamas’ hair. The most popular of them all is sheep wool. The rarest and most valuable wool fibre is derived from the vicuña camel that lives in the high alpine areas of the Andes.
Wool fibres vary in colour, depending on the animal, with natural colours ranging from white and pale hues to dark browns and black (from black sheep). However, the fibres can be dyed blue, pink, magenta, burgundy, etc. Once dyed, colours remain permanent and will never wash off.
Wool has many excellent qualities. It is:
- Soft and warm.
- Resilient and durable.
- Warm and springy.
- Kinky and strong.
- Stain and wrinkle-free.
- Absorbent (up to 40% of its weight in moisture without becoming damp).
- Pliant.
- Resistant to naked flames.
- Antistatic.
- Abrasion resistant.
(A negative feature of natural wool is its vulnerability to moth attacks).
Categories of Fine Wool Fabrics
There are three categories of pure wool. Each depends on the animal and the quality of its fibre, its region, and how it is bred. They are:
- Worsted wool
- Woolens
- Carpet wool
Worsted Wool
Worsted wool is the most expensive type. It is the finest wool that makes pricey garments. Its yarn is longer and tightly twisted, subtly lustrous, and has a smooth surface. This fine wool mid-weight fabric is hard-wearing and is the type you can wear all year round.
Woolens
Woolen fabrics are made from shorter wool fibres and come with a tufted texture and a soft feel to the hand. They are thick and dense and majorly made into bulky wear. They are less expensive than worsted wool fabrics.
Carpet Wool
Traditionally, carpet pile was derived from long and coarse animal hair. From the 20th century, after the advent of technology, synthetic fibres were either blended with wool or used exclusively to make wool carpets. It is the cheapest and only suitable for carpet, rug-making, and craft projects.
Types and Uses for Wool Textiles
We all know about the versatility of wool in the clothing industry, but how about the interior design industry? How many are aware of how this beautiful textile can be used to enrich interior spaces? Below, you will find the finer types of wool and their uses.
Cashmere, a fine wool fabric, is made from natural fibre sheared from the fleecy undergrowth of the Kashmir goat. It is mainly used to make apparel – coats, jumpers, tops, suits, sweaters, shawls, and dresses. This type of wool fibre has a very soft hand.
Wool Gabardine is obtained from 100% pure wool (or wool/cotton blend). It features a tightly woven fabric with a diagonally ribbed surface (known as twill weave) on one face and a smooth texture on the other. Gabardine is strong, waterproof, and hard-wearing and is used to make apparel like suits, overcoats, hats, bags, and trousers.
Tweed is one of the most popular wool fabrics. It is a classic fabric made from coarse homespun wool fibres and is constructed with a plain or twill weave. Tweed materials have an attractive pattern and a subtle rough feel to the hand. Their patterns are mainly check, striped, hounds-tooth, plaid or herringbone. The fabric is best suited for making jackets, waistcoats, hats, and winter clothing.
Mohair is a soft, silky, heavy fibre derived from the Angora goat. Its fabric is a lustrous woolen material with a highly fuzzy surface. Mohair textiles are expensive and mainly used to make overcoats and jackets.
Boiled wool fabric is a stretchy, heavyweight material that possesses insulating abilities. It is also called felted knitted wool and is suitable for berets, vests, jackets, cardigans, coats, and jumpers. It is the go-to material for DIY enthusiasts who work with wool fabrics.
Merino is the softest and finest of all wool derived from sheep. It may be an expensive fine wool material, but it is one of the most desirable and longer-lasting. The fabric is made from the fleece of Merino sheep, mainly in Australia and New Zealand.
Boucle is categorized as a textured woolen fabric. Its unusual construction gives it twisted curly loops on the fabric’s surface. Boucle wool fabric is heavyweight with a soft texture that adds a stylish touch to apparel made from it.
Vicuna wool is the rarest and most expensive wool. The fibres are from the fleece the wild Vicuna camel. It is rare because the animal is an endangered species that only produces small quantities of soft and fine wool once every three years. It is shorn under controlled conditions. Hardly surprising that a jacket made from Vicuna wool can cost as much as $20,000 or more.
Lambswool is fleece shorn from young lambs of about six to seven months old. The fleece is soft, elastic, slippery (but sturdy), and does not need much processing. Lambswool is a luxury wool fabric and is used in high-grade textile materials.
Other fabrics made from fine wool are crepe, challis, melton, and jersey.