By Definition the meaning of wool is the dense, soft, often curly hair forming the coat of sheep and certain other mammals, such as the goat and alpaca, consisting of cylindrical fibers of keratin covered by minute overlapping scales and much valued as a textile fabric. A material or garment made of this hair. The furry hair of some insect larvae, such as the caterpillar. A filamentous or fibrous covering or substance suggestive of the texture of true wool. This all can be found in a dictionary, but really what is wool?

Wool is known to be a highly flame resistant, and for this reason it can be found in mattresses and rugs. It is very durable, able to be stretched up to 50% when it is wet and 30% when it is dry. Wool is also known to be great with moisture as it can pull the moisture into its core fibers; this prevents wool products from feeling wet or soggy.

Wool is known to be a favorite fiber in the textile industry as it is easy to dye and work with. Before wool is used in products it must be sheared off the animal first. A season Shearer can remove the wool off a sheep all at once. Once the wool is removed it needs to be washed in order to remove any impurities, one being lanolin.

Some manufacturers will combine different wools to come up with a specific blend and then dye them together; this will insure that the dye will be distributed evenly among the wool. The wool is then carded through a set of teethed rollers, this pulls the fibers, which keeps it straight and removes any dirt or vegetable substances that may have remained in the wool after cleaning.
The next step in the process is to pull the wool into silvers; which are long strips of loosely pulled fibers that are going in the same direction. Once the carding is complete the wool is measured. If it is less than three inches, the wool is then twisted into rope like strands that can be spun into wool that is used for knitting. The strands that are longer then three inches are combed and drawn before spinning.

The act of spinning pulls the fibers tightly together and then twists them; this helps it retain a yarn shape. There are various uses for yarn, for this reason yarn can be spun in all sorts of sizes and widths. If the yarn is being used for wool weaving then it is spun to be very fine. Often times once the manufacturer is done knitting or weaving the wool, the wool is shrunk through a process, which is controlled. The process of shrinking the wool in a controlled environment helps the wool from shrinking too much once the customer uses it.