DO YOU KNOW WOOL AND WORSTED?

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 95, 8 May 1937, Page 13

DO YOU KNOW WOOL AND WORSTED?

Points in Buying aSuit

fpo MANY PEOPLE wool is merely wooL Actually there are "different lypes "of wool as well as , different qualities, says a writer in the Christian Science Monitor. The highest type of wool is said to be produced .by the merino sheep of Spain. Australian and New Zealand wools, considered the finest commercial wools, have been developed by seientific crossing of the .merino with other sheep. At the present time Australia produces about one-fifth of the total. wool supply of the world. The qualities which characterise good wool are: (1) uniformity of length and, fineness of fibre; (2) elast'city and uniformity of tensile strength; (3) the absence of hard and brittle flbres; (4) the high lustre; (5) and the softness and resilience of the wool. Although all eloth manufaetured from wool is, strictly speaking, woollen cloth, a technical distinction is made between woollen cloth and what is known as worsted. Take a handful of wool as it comes from the sheep 's back and comb it with an ordmary hair comb. You will comb out ouly the shorter stands and these will lie in all directions. It is^these short strands that are used to make woollen cloth. The longer parallel strands of wool which remain are used to make worsted cloth. As they can be twisted better, they make a smoother eloth than do the shorter strands. Cashmere, flahnel, tweed cheviot end Shetland are the best known kinds of woollen cloth and these are always soft. finished. Serge is a worsted and generally hard finished. There is also a worsted known simply as "worsted cloth,"which may be hard finished, semi-hard finished or soft finished. A gabardine is a steep twill worsted with a cotton back. There is also another type of cloth known as a twist cloth, made of a combination of wool and worsted yarn, spun and woven very tightly, generally in a basket weaye construqtion. This cloth is sometimes given a soft finish, but is generally sheared down very close, and is one of the most durable known, but is the hardest of ali cloth to tailor. * All woollens tailor better than worsteds, being more soft and elastic; but they are not so strong. Woollen material will not shine after

wearing, bnt it doe* not usually holdl the pres* welL Worsted material, em pecially the hard finished^ can generally bo depended upon to give good servic«| but has a tdndency to become shiny after some wear. Which then is tha better choicet Perhaps the most prao* tical eloth for &' oian's suit is a semi* hard finished worsted: it will hold tha shape and press well and will not shina easily nnle'ss the material is very dark in colonr. All woollen eloth' must be ahruhk bm fore being made into garments, and again it is important . that the buye^ know by what method the «hrinVing has been done. Of the two processes— « by steam and by cold water— the steaa process is quicker, and henoe eheape*^ Cold water, however, shrinks the clothE ifiore, and there is less apt to b* fur* ther shrinking when tho gament ia cleaned. * ' ' * ' Equally fenportant for the buyer ia a knowledge of the different hinds of dyeing. Wool eloth- may be dyed i * the yarn before weaving, or it may be "piece dyed;" after. the. eloth is mad&t Most solid-colour wool eloth is piece dyed, as this is the eheapest and the easiest method. Only a few bolts of cloth are dyed one colour at ihe same time. As new dye* are mixed again for the same colour, it may differ in shade slightly. For that reason the woollen mills cannot 'guarantee that 4 two bolts of solid colonr cloth will be exactly of the same shade. Therefore, men who desire an extra pair of tron* sers to match their suits in n solid colour shonld order them from their tailor at the same time, It is often desirable to eonsider the weight of the material one is buying* If you are told that you are looking at a 14-ounce material, that means simply, that the material weighs 14 ounces to the yard, which is an average weight. "Ten onnce" material is very light and suitable only for warm weather; whereaa "16 ounce" -would bfi considered heavy. One of the queries most often in the mind of the buyer is whether the material i* "all wool" or not, There are certain tests whieh it is possible for anyone to make. The most aecnrate way is to put one tablespoon of lye in n pint of water in a granite vessel and bring to the boiling point. Immerse a sampie of the fabric and boil gently for five minutes. All the wool will ha completely dissolved, aud any cotton of linen will remain, i