Woolen textiles

The annual production of wool is approximately 1.2 million tons, which corresponds to a share of 2% of the total production of textile fibers. A simplified route for the preparation, dyeing, and finishing of woolen textiles is shown in Figure 3. 

Figure 3 General processing route of woolen textiles (from Ref. 3).

The surface of a wool hair is covered by keratin sheds, which cause a distinct tendency to shrinkage and formation of felts. This behavior is usually undesirable and thus an antifelt finishing is the most important treatment during the processing of woolen textiles. One of the most important standard procedures, the Hercosett finish, is based on the oxidative treatment of wool by application of compounds that release chlorine. Examples for applied chemicals are NaOCl, CI2 gas, and dichloroisocyanuric acid (DCCA) [14]. 

Figure 7.3 Archaeological woolen textile preserved in anoxic waterlogged conditions for approximately 1,000 years, (a) As found (b) macro photograph of weave structure after processing. (Photo R. C. Janaway.)...

The Romans and Greeks before the Christian era seem to have been without soap as we know it, and to some of us today their cleaning methods seem unrefined. The Greeks used oil for cleansing the skin, and supplemented it with abrasives such as bran, sand, ashes, and pumice-stone. Clothes and woolen textiles were cleaned by treading the material or beating the fabric with stones or a wooden mallet in the presence of fuller s earth together with alkali, lye, or more usually ammonia in the form of stale urine. 

Magnani C, Comba P, Ferraris F, et al. 1993. A case-control study of carcinomas of the nose and paranasal sinuses in the woolen textile manufacturing industry. Arch Environ Health 48 94-97. 

Deterioration of wool by insects dates back to antiquity. It is unusual to find woolen textiles at prehistoric sites. Woolen items are rarely found at archeological sites because wool is so prone to deterioration by insects and microorganisms. Conversely, fabrics like linen have survived from times more remote because it is not susceptible to insect and/or other deterioration. 

That the introduction of woolen textiles and a wholesale shift from flax took place in the Uruk period, if not before, now seems clear (McCorriston 1997 Kouchoukos 1998 Sudo 2010), the sociopolitical ramifications of which were discussed in Chapter 1. Further evidence places that transition even earlier in the fourth millennium than previously recognized. Already in level 20 there are indications that woolen textile production was a major part of the economy of Brak. These include a number of spindle whorls in the tool assemblage, and although weights are not provided - which would indicate whether they were used for wool or flax (Keith in Stein et al. 1997 137 Sudo 2010) - they seem to be of the kind appropriate to wool. A spectacle idol (Fig. 13) reused in a wall was also found in level 20 (McMahon and Oates 2007 153-4). Often equated with eye idols, it has been suggested that these objects, considerably larger and more rudimentary than the eyes, were used in textile production (Breniquet 1996 ... 

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