CHAPTER IIIWOOLEN MANUFACTURE

We have taken the worsted industry first, not because it is necessarily any more important than woolen manufacture, but because its processes are more complicated, and therefor, if we have gained a certain amount of familiarity with them, we are able to take up the sister industry in a more abbreviated manner. Although, at the present time, the demand for worsted materials is a great deal heavier than the demand for woolens, the woolen industry is by far the older of the two, and may rightfully claim that the worsted branch is really an off-shoot of its tree. Moreover, while broadcloth and similar material no longer enjoy their erstwhile popularity, there is still a tremendous demand for other products of the woolen industry such as blankets, flannels, overcoatings, etc. And we must bear in mind that most of the cheaper clothing materials are woolens.

Raw Material

In the sorting of wool we saw that the shorter staples were classed as clothing wools. To these must be added the noils from worsted combing, yarn waste, and wool reclaimed from off-sorts, as well as wool extract made from rags, before we have the raw material for the woolen industry.

Scouring

Whereas we found that combing wool had to be left in the grease until it could be carded immediately after scouring, the maker of woolen yarn will buy wool that has been scoured months before. Most of the wool that is scoured by or near the growers finds its way into the woolen industry for this reason. The scouring given to clothing wool varies only in that it is more violent than that given to combing wool, and in that it is frequently augmented by carbonization to remove vegetable matter.

Mule Spinning

Blending

The first process after scouring is blending. When the desired mixture of various grades, kinds, and colors of wool, wool extract, or cotton has been effected, the resulting heterogeneous mass is put through the first of several carding processes.

Fibres not parallel as in Worsted

From now on the desire of the woolen yarn manufacturer is diametrically opposed to that of the worsted comber. He wants to open out the fibres, but he wants them to lie in all directions. He does not want uniformity. He wants just the opposite. His yarn must have a certain amount of strength, but it must have, first of all, felting properties, so that when the cloth is finished the various threads will merge and interlock. As might be expected, therefore, the carding process is very much more violent.

Carding

Condenser

The blend is first put through a fearnought which might be described briefly as the most pitiless member of the card family. It is also known as a tenter-hook-willy, from the reversed position of its teeth. From this machine the wool goes through the card proper, which is similar to the worsted card except that the rollers go in opposite directions, instead of in the same directions. Here, again, the doffer lifts the wool off in acontinuous filmy sheet and delivers it to the condenser. The sheet is not simply drawn through a funnel into a single thick sliver, but is forced between rollers into two leather rubbing aprons which by pressure and friction reduce it to a series of small soft flabby slivers, having just enough adhesiveness to permit of mule spinning.

Burling and mending

The fibres in these slivers may be of all lengths and degrees of fineness, and they lie in all directions.

There are now no elaborate drawing or combing processes. All that remains to be done before we have a weavable woolen yarn is a certain amount of twisting and attenuation. Both these results are obtained at once in the mule.

Mule Spinning

In a woolen mule the spools of sliver are placed in a fixed frame, and the sliver passes between a pair of rollers to the spindles. These stand, slightly inclined backwards, in a long row upon the movable carriage. At first the spindle tips are close to the rollers. The sliver is paid out, and at the same time the carriage bearing the revolving spindles retreats.During this time no yarn is wound on the bobbins, but the slivers are being twisted. Then the rollers cease to pay out sliver, the carriage moves out a little further, and the spindles rotate faster, so that the yarn is being twisted and stretched. When sufficient twist has been imparted the carriage moves back again and the spindles wind up the twisted yarn on to the bobbins. This, briefly, is the operation of the mule. There are a great many intricate devices in this machine which deserve attention, but which hardly fall within our scope. All that remains now is to wind the yarn on spools, or skein it, before it is ready for the weaver.

Weaving

There are many differences between weaving worsteds and woolens, but for our purposes we may consider the process the same, as in a general way it is. Some cloths are woven with a cotton warp and a woolen yarn filling, the warp being carefully concealed. Woolen cloths are more frequently woven with a backing than worsteds. This means that either there is a double warp, a double weft, or both. The object of backing is usually to add strength and warmth to the material, and the lower side is therefore often woven of coarser yarn. In some cases, however, notably in travelling rugs, the backing may be just as elaborate as the face, and this necessitates a rather intricate mounting process.

Carpets

Carpet weaving is one of the large branches of the woolen industry, and for this purpose the coarsest and longest fibred wools (common, braid, and carpet wools) are usually employed. These wools readily lend themselves to the manufacture of a coarse thick yarn, which in turn produces a thick, durable material. The thickness of a carpet is known as the pile.

Finishing Important in Woolens

Whereas we saw that the worsted cloth was practically finished when it left the loom, this is not the case with woolens. Oftentimes it would tax an expert to identify the finished goods with the loose and altogether different material produced by the weaver. Some fine woolens, it is true, are scarcely altered more than worsteds, but in most cases the finishing operations are in this industry a major rather than a subsidiary stage of manufacture. The reader may have been puzzled at the divergent lines along which woolen and worsted yarns are manufactured, and at a loss to account for the reasons. The cause is precisely this, that the worsted manufacturer aims to produce a cloth that is completed when woven, while the woolen maker wants his loom to turn out a material that will readily adopt a great variety of finishes.

Burling

The first finishing operation, which applies also to worsteds, is the examination of the piece for imperfections and the removing of them byhand. The piece is then scoured to get rid of dirt, and, where the finish is complicated, this may be repeated several times.

Fulling

Fulling, the next and very important process, consists in passing the material through closed or partially enclosed boxes, in which the cloth is run through soap solutions and then forced through rollers. The result of fulling is to shrink the material and give more body to it. It is chiefly in order to be able to do this that the maker of woolens wants the fibres in his yarn to lie criss-cross, so that in the fulling mill their serrated edges will felt and interlock with each other. The amount of fulling done depends upon the shrinkage desired. It is possible to reduce the size of the cloth by half in this process. Some worsteds are slightly fulled, but in their case it simply serves to add a little body to the cloth,without in any way sacrificing the design of the weaving. Long before the invention of even the earliest automatic textile machinery there were great numbers of water-driven fulling mills, in which the woolen cloth was pounded in fuller’s earth by wooden hammers. In those days the cloth was felted into a stiff thick mass which would resist wear almost indefinitely, but which would hardly adapt itself to the requirements of modern tailoring.

Steaming

Raising

Cropping

Pressing

The fulled piece is next made to revolve on a large drum set with teazle-heads. The object of this procedure is to open out the fibres, and the process is known as raising. In worsteds and fancy woolens, such as trouserings, raising is really nothing more than the brushing up of the loose fibres so that they may be cropped off, much as grass is cut on a lawn. This will of course have the effect of showing up the weave very plainly. In most woolens, however, the cloth is raised wet, and the teazle motion is more violent, so that the entire surface is covered with a thick nap of brushed up fibres which entirely conceal the weave. This is often very desirable where coarse backing threads are to be hidden, or where,for other reasons, a thick nap is desired, as for instance in rough overcoatings. There may be several raisings and croppings, between which the material is boiled and pressed, all depending on the character of the face that is desired. In some cloths the finishing processes are exceedingly complicated, particularly where a smooth finish such as doeskin is sought. The variety of finishes is infinite and new ones are constantly being invented, many of which are closely guarded trade secrets. In most cases pressing completes the process.

Cropping

We have now followed both the combing and the clothing wools through the process of manufacture into worsted and woolen yarns and cloths. Again, let us emphasize that the relative amount of space devoted here to the two industries is governed, not by their comparative importance,but by what appeared to be the most concise method of approach. Many details, which loom up as tremendous problems to the manufacturer, have necessarily been treated here with scant respect, and others have not even been mentioned.

Mohair

There are two materials upon which we have not touched at all, although they are generally included in wool manufacture. Mohair is the hair of the Angora goat, and has many characteristics of both hair and Mohair wool. These animals are native to Asia Minor, but are now extensively raised in other parts of the world, notably in Africa and in this country. The hair averages about four inches in length, although it frequently grows much longer, is very smooth and fine, has considerable tensile strength, low elasticity, and practically no felting property. It is used primarily in the manufacture of plush, such as is used in railroad carriages, and makes very durable material. It is also woven into Palm Beach cloth, or mixed with worsted or cotton yarns in such fabrics as automobile tops.

Alpaca

Alpaca is a similar fibre, obtained from an animal native to Bolivia and Peru. The fibre is finer than mohair, and a little more like wool. It comes in three natural colors; white, brown, and black, all of which are found on the same fleece. Alpaca is both light and soft, and therefore lends itself admirably to the manufacture of thin linings.

Stockinette Frame

Whereas most wool yarn is woven into cloth, there is also the knitting process, in which the individual threads are interlaced into a regular fabric without warp and weft structure. The work is performed on a sort of loom, called the stockinette frame, upon which the yarns are arranged in parallel order and uniform distances apart. The actual knitting closely resembles hand knitting, and is done entirely by automatic mechanism. A machine of this sort is capable of turning out a great length of material in a short time, and the fabric has the fine ribbed character seen in ordinary knitted goods. The article is soft, full, and elastic, but lacks the strength and firmness of woven fabrics. Stockinette cloths, sweaters, some underwear, and hosiery are products of the knitting machine, and the knitting mills are important consumers of noils and low-grade wools.

Felt

Besides being made into yarn, and woven or knit into goods, wool is also compressed into felts of various kinds. Space unfortunately is lacking for the consideration of this subject here, although a considerable quantity of wool goes into felt manufacture.

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