What Wool They Think of Next?
Apparently, someone has figured out how to make wool less wool-like by “bio-polishing” the fibers. Wool has never been my favorite fabric, precisely because of the itching and shrinking. The bio-polishing process apparently solves those problems and produces a shinier fiber in the bargain. I certainly would like to get my hands on a sample or two, and see if the process does anything to alleviate wool allergies.
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July 21st, 2005 at 1:39 pm
Wool alergies are very rare. Most people assume they are alergic to wool when they experienc the itchiness that you referred to. This is not the case. This is merely a a phenomenon called prickle where a rogue coarse fiber pokes through the yarn leaving sparse but ever so apparent pricklely fibers jabbing your skin. You will notice that fine suiting fabrics made from 100% wool do not do this. This is because the wool used to produce those luscious fabrics are made from very fine (non coarse) fibers and are specified and processed to remove any rogue coarse fibers. These fine fibers are too fine and soft to produce this prickle effect. Remember, wool is nothing more than sheeps hair. Most people are not alergic to hair… Its all in how people process (like the biopolishing process), spin, weave, knit and finish wool that gives it a better feel to the skin.