Wool is primarily composed of protein. Before spinning, raw wool requires preliminary processing to become scourted wool.
The processing begins with wool sorting to ensure uniform quality. Next, the wool is opened and beaten to fluff it, improving the washing effect.
Then, scouring occurs, causing the lanolin to form a stable emulsion. Impurities float in the washing liquid, resulting in wet wool with a moisture content of approximately 40%, which is then dried.
In production, a combined machine is often used for continuous operation to obtain scourted wool in one pass. This scoured wool then enters the tops manufacturing process. The tops are then drafted and refined on a spinning frame before entering the spinning process.
