Yarn Speak: What are Wool Tops?
On the mezzanine of our factory you will usually find several large cubic bales of fibre. This is how most of the wool that we spin into yarn is delivered to us. The bales contain wool ‘tops’ - the clean, unprocessed wool ready for gilling, twisting, and spinning.
The wool that is for sale at the auction in Bradford is literally the whole fleece that has been shorn from the sheep’s back. This is called ‘greasy’ fleece, and it needs to be thoroughly cleaned before we can begin our work of turning this raw fibre into finished yarn. During the industrial-scale cleaning process or ‘scouring’, the fleece travels through a line of 6 or 7 scouring bowls, each one the size of a small swimming pool, and as it moves through each bath more dust, dirt, and debris is removed. The lanolin in the wool becomes a by-product of this stage and is sold for re-use in other products such as cosmetics and leather-care. Once fully cleaned and dried the fleece is then carded and combed. The combination of these 2 processes removes the knots, tangles and shorter fibres and smooths the fibre in parallel alignment. The wool is now referred to as ‘tops’ and is ready for spinning.
