Wool Judging

Break - Wool that is abnormally weak in one spot in the staple length of the wool.

Breech or britch - Coarse hair-like fibers on the lower hind legs and around the dock of some sheep.

Character — General appearance of the wool or mohair with special reference to the possession of crimp, color, and condition.

Clip — Wool or mohair produced by one flock of sheep or Angora goats.

Clothing wool - Wool that is not suited to combing and is used in the woolen system of manufacturing. Usually, wool of short fiber length.

Color — A bright white to cream is the most desirable color of wool. Other colors are referred to as "off colors."

Condition — The softness of the fleece due to fiber and grease content.

Crimp - Natural curl or waviness of the fiber.

Defect - Vegetable content of wool and mohair.

Fleece — Wool or mohair produced by one sheep or Angora goat at one shearing.

French combing — Wool or medium fiber length and suitable for combing on the French combs.

Grading - Separating entire fleeces into groups according to fineness and length.

Hank — A standard length of yarn, sometimes called a skein. In worsted yarn, a hank is 560 yards.

Kemp— Opaque, hair-like fiber which is brittle and chalky white. It is a serious defect.

Lock — A group of fibers clinging together within a fleece.

Luster — Shininess of the fiber or its ability to reflect light.

Noils — The short fibers removed from the long ones in the combing process.

Purity- Freedom from off-type fibers, such as hair, kemp and colored fibers.

Quality- A term used in the wool trade to indicate fineness.

Shrinkage - The weight raw wool loses when scoured, expressed as a percentage of the original weight.

Sorting- Breaking up individual fleeces into various grades determined by their fineness and length.

Soundness- Strength of the fiber or freedomfrom breaks and tenderness.

Spinning count- The number applied to wool indicating the fineness of the yarn which can be spun from it. The numbers are derived from the number of hanks of 500 yards each that are required to weigh 1 pound.

Staple wool - Wool with suitable fiber length to permit it to be combed on the Noble combs. Wools with excellent length within a grade for fineness.

Tags - Heavy, dung-covered locks of wool or mohair.

Tender- Wool this is abnormally weak throughout the entire length of the fiber.

Top — A continuous band of wool fibers that have been made parallel and have had the short fibers, called noils, taken out by combing. Top is an intermediate stage in the manufacture of worsted yarn.

Yield - Percentage of clean fiber left in a lot after scouring.

Yolk — The natural secretions of the skin that cling to the wool or mohair fiber. Yolk is made up of natural oil and perspiration salts.