Table 2.

The importance of wool attributes to wool processing

Characteristics	Processing significance	Importance to scouring and topmaking	Importance to yarn and cloth manufacturing
Mean fiber diameter	Affects hauteur, spinning limits for yarn, fabric mass per unit area, fabric prickliness, and softness	****	****
Length	Major contributor to hauteur and yarn quality	***	***
Washing yield	Measures quantity of clean fiber	****
Vegetable matter amount and type	Impacts carding and combing yield and contributes to hauteur and fabric quality	***	**
Strength	Major contributor to hauteur	***
Crimp (fiber curvature)	Affects hauteur, yarn evenness, fabric properties, and handle	**	**
Clean fiber color	Affects dying ability		*
Suint/moisture content	Affects wool color	*	*
Handle	Affects softness of fabrics	*	**
Weathering	Affects hauteur and dying ability	*	*

Source adapted from Anon (1973), Aitken et al. (1994), and Cottle (2010). Hauteur is defined as fiber length after early stage processing.

****Most important; ***major; **secondary; and *minor.