New Zealand Wool Testing Authority Ltd
New Zealand Wool Testing Authority Ltd
Laser technology has wide applications in many scientific fields and is now being applied to the measurement of fiber diameter. Unless specifically requested, all fleece testing is conducted on LASERSCAN.
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO)'S expertise in this field has led to the development of SIROLAN LASERSCAN for producing accurate and precise measurements of mean fiber diameter and diameter distribution, with minimal sample preparation.
More detail on Fleece Measurement
Yield is the weight of clean wool, after the removal of impurities, expressed as a percentage of the greasy wool weight.
These impurities may be natural, such as grease and suint, or acquired, such as seeds and burrs along with sand, soil or other mineral matter.
In addition, wool naturally absorbs moisture and this can vary from day to day depending on climatic conditions. Because it is used to estimate the quantity of usable wool fibre in a lot it is a significant factor in wool trading, although it does not, as such, affect the processing efficiency of the wool.
Staple length and strength is the major raw wool characteristic influencing the mean fibre length in the top and the efficiency of processing in combing wools.
Along with Fibre diameter, staple strength is a most important characteristic in determining clean price in combing wools.
Much of the New Zealand Merino, Corriedale and Half-bred wool is combed into tops and used in the worsted and semi-worsted processing systems.
When daylight strikes an object the light can either be wholly absorbed by the object, in which case it appears black, or totally reflected, in which case it appears white. If however, the object absorbs some portions of the spectrum then it will appear as the colour of the light which is not absorbed.
Fibre fineness is one of the most important parameters of the wool fibre. It determines how the fibre will be used.
The handle and visual appearance of the overall product is affected by the fineness of the wool. Clear price differentials exist for different fibre diameters and in almost all cases the price increases as the diameter decreases.
More details on Fibre Diameter
The Comprehensive Scoured Wool Package (CSWP) was first introduced to the wool industry by NZWTA in 1987 and was regarded as a significant step towards full objective description of scoured wool.
Originally, scoured wool testing consisted of a Condition test only so that the moisture content could be established and this was used to calculate the certified commercial mass.
The Comprehensive Scoured Wool Package consists of:
