A wool staple is a cluster or lock of
wool
Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. ...
fibres and not a single fibre.
For
other textiles, the staple, having evolved from its usage with wool, is a measure of the quality of the fibre with regard to its length or fineness.
Etymology
Of uncertain origin but possibly a back-formation arising because part of the business of a
wool-stapler was
to sort and class the wool according to
quality
Quality may refer to:
Concepts
*Quality (business), the ''non-inferiority'' or ''superiority'' of something
*Quality (philosophy), an attribute or a property
*Quality (physics), in response theory
* Energy quality, used in various science discipl ...
.
Staple strength
Staple strength is calculated as the force required to break per unit staple thickness, expressed as
newtons
The newton (symbol: N) is the unit of force in the International System of Units (SI). It is defined as 1 kg⋅m/s, the force which gives a mass of 1 kilogram an acceleration of 1 metre per second per second. It is named after Isaac Newton in r ...
per kilo
tex.
Kilotex
/ref>
The staple strength of wool is one of the major determining factors of the sale price of greasy wool.
Virtually all fleece and better grade wool skirtings sold at auction
An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition e ...
in Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
are objectively measured prior to the sale with the average results printed in a catalogue.
At least 40 staples must be measured to in order to conform to the Australian Standard. Wools under 30 newtons per kilotex are considered tender. Currently wools over 40 newtons per kilotex are preferred and attract a premium. Seasonal conditions or the health of the sheep may influence the soundness (strength) of the wool.
Staple length
The staple length of the wool is the length of the staple, and highly correlated with mean fibre length in the top (hauteur).
Staple length generally determines the end use of wool, that is, whether it will be used in weaving or knitting. The longer wools, generally around 51 mm and longer and called combing types, are processed to worsted
Worsted ( or ) is a high-quality type of wool yarn, the fabric made from this yarn, and a yarn weight category. The name derives from Worstead, a village in the English county of Norfolk. That village, together with North Walsham and Aylsham ...
yarn. Short-stapled wools are more profitably used in the woollen
Woolen (American English) or woollen (Commonwealth English) is a type of yarn made from carded wool. Woolen yarn is soft, light, stretchy, and full of air. It is thus a good insulator, and makes a good knitting yarn. Woolen yarn is in contrast t ...
section where high-grade material may be produced from superfine wool.
The Australian Standard requires that a sale lot has a minimum of 55 staples measured with the average calculated and produced. The variability of this measure is reported as the coefficient of variation
In probability theory and statistics, the coefficient of variation (CV), also known as relative standard deviation (RSD), is a standardized measure of dispersion of a probability distribution or frequency distribution. It is often expressed a ...
(CV%).
See also
* Micron (wool)
*Staple (textiles)
A staple fiber is a textile fiber of discrete length. The opposite is a filament fiber, which comes in continuous lengths. Staple length is a characteristic fiber length of a sample of staple fibers. It is an essential criterion in yarn spinning a ...
*Wool
Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. ...
* Wool classing
References
Cottle, D.J. (1991). Australian Sheep and Wool Handbook. Melbourne, Australia: Inkata Press, 20-23. .
External links
Breeds & Wool Uses
- Lists different average staple lengths for various breeds, including pictures of measured staples lengths and staple-specific spinning notes.
Raw Wool Testing
- Lists characteristics of various sheep breeds, including staple lengths and descriptions.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Staple (Wool)
Sheep wool
Spinning