Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/755

* WOOL MANUFACTURES. 645 WOOL MANUFACTURES. staple to open and thus rcndt-r the material softer anil less resisting when washed anil worked over in the various machines. The wool must be thoroughly dry, else many dillioulties will he en- countered. Jf the beating process be well car- ried outj it «'ill not only dispose of many im- purities, but will invariablj- treble and quadruple the volume of the fibre. iScoiKiNu. The washing received by the live sheej) before the removal of tile Meece is not enough for the purposes of the manufacturer. There is a subsequent cleansing which could by no possibility be given while the material was a part of the animal. The necessity of thorough scouring is due not only to the dirt adhering to the wool, but also to the natural fatty secretion, called yulk or siiiiil, which is in the wool. This oily substance is sometimes reclaimed from the wash-water and sold under the counnercial name of degras. iSoft water is required for washing, because the insoluble lime soap formed in dissolv- ing soap in hard water is deposited on the wool fibre and becomes inextricably entangled. Wool washed with hard water is always harsh to the touch ; it takes on dyes unevenly and is not read- ily cleansed. The washing is performed in a series of rake-scouring machines, the wool being immersed in a cleansing solution and passed back and forth by the automatic machinery, which squeezes out the dirty water and breaks up the grease. The wool is passed from one tub to an- other, in each of which the cleansing operation is carried a step further until it emerges from the last tubj clean. The wool is then dried in automatic driers, having been first dyed or bleached as required. The woo! having been dried is still found to retain many objectionable features that are not disposed of in the previous manipulations. These are bunches, matted locks, dust, sand, and other impurities, all of w'hich must be removed before the article can go toward final manufacture. The process of removing these objectional^le fea- tures is termed ifUIoicing or tcillci/iiig (the latter term being given in honor of the inventor, Wil- ley). It is accomplished by a machine consist- ing of a large drum and three small cylinders mounted on an inclosed frame. Powerful hooked teeth are geared on a drum which rotates with great rapidity, and the matted sections of wool, being fed into the drum, pass on to the spikes of the lesser cylinders; the matted locks are gently torn asunder, and the whole wool is delivered in a light, free, and disentangled condition. In various of the South American ]iroducts there is a difficulty which requires additional care. There are little burrs and small adherent seeds which insist on remaining in the wool, no matter what the processes previously described may have ac- complished. One method of eliminating them is chemical ; another mechanical. In the chemical process, technically known as carbonisation, the organic matter in the wool is decomposed by the use of chloride of aluminum, chloride of mag- nesium, strong salt solutions, or acid vapor, after which it is subjected to a baking process. The wool is now cooled and the carbon dusted out. Finally it is washed in a strong soda solu- tion to remove the acitfe. This process is now used not only to remove the vegetable matter from new wool, but also the cotton from the 'union' shoddy. The operation of burring is sometimes performed by mechanical burr-pickers which crush the brittle burrs under powerful, closely set rollers, without injury to the .more elastic and lle.ible wool. The pieces are then shaken out. Mixing. This is an operation of great impor- tance designed to secure uniform quality of yarn. It is accomplished by spreading the wool from different lots or from two or more qualities or colors into as many thin layers as possible, one on top of another. The greater the amount of wool mixed and the more thorough the mixing, the better will be the quality of the cloth pro- duced. If other materials are to be added to the wool, as silk, cotton, or shoddy, the blending of these with the wool is performed at this stage. Oiling. The wool having been thoroughly cleansed is more or less harsh and wiry to the touch, owing to the removal of its natural lubri- cant, the j'olk. To restore its natural ])lianey it is, while being mixed, slightly oiled, either by hand or machine. Oiling also imparts a certain adhesiveness to the fibres, useful in the subse- quent operations. The lubricant tisually em- ployed is oleincj olive oil, or lard oil. Difference Between Woolen and Worsted Proce.ss. The preliminary operations thus far described are eonnnon to all manufactures. But at this point the two branches of wool manufac- tures separate. In making -woolen yarn the wool is simply carded and loosely spun ; in making worsted thread the -ool is combed and the thread is twisted until it becomes very hard. In making woolen goods a short-staplecl wool may be used and a fibre having good felting qualities is preferred. The opposite characteristics are sought in wool to be used in the manufacture of worsted. During the process of combing, de- scribed later on, the short fibres, known as noils, are pulled out and cast aside to be utilized in the woolen mill. Returning to the process of woolen as dis- tinguished from worsted manufacture, the wool, now oiled and thoroughly mixed, is next passed through a wool-picker, the object of which is to loosen up the fibres. The wool is then passed through a series of carding machines similar to those tised in the manufacture of cotton. See Cotton and Spinning. Carding. This process produces a thread whose fibres lie loosely projecting from the main thread in little ends which form the nap of the finished cloth. The condensing machine is at- tached to the cards, and its object, as the name implies, is to condense or reduce into compact slivers the sheet of fibres delivered by the last main cylinder of the carding engine. The con- densed fibre is simultaneously wound on spools, and is ready to be passed on to the spinning de- ])artment. where it is convertei into a finished thread ready to be woven into cloth. See Spin- ning. Worsted Manufacture. In making a worsted thread, if a comparatively short or medium staple fibre is used, the wool is first carded as in woolen manufacture. But if a very long staple wool is used, having a fibre five inches or more long, the wool is not carded at all, because the fibre would be broken by the cylinder engaging it before it was released from the preceding cylinder. There is still a third class of worsted yarns, such as are required for carpet-weaving,