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Staple (textiles)

 
Staple (textiles)

 
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Staple (textiles)
 
 
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Staple is a term referring to naturally formed clusters or locks of wool
Wool

Wool is the fiber derived from the specialized skin cells, called follicles, of animals in the Caprinae family, principally domestic sheep, but the hair of certain species of other Mammalia such as cashmere goat, llamas, rabbits and keeshonds may also be called wool....
 fibres throughout a fleece that are held together by cross fibres. The staple strength of wool is one of the major determining factors when spinning
Spinning (textiles)

Spinning is an ancient textile arts in which fiber crop, animal fiber or synthetic fiber fibers are twisted together to form yarn . For thousands of years, fiber was spun by hand using simple tools, the Spindle and distaff....
 yarn as well as the sale price of greasy wool.

Virtually all fleece and better grade wool skirtings sold at auction
Auction

An auction is a process of trade goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the winning bidder....
 in Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
 are objectively measured prior to the sale with the average results printed in a catalogue.

Staple strength is calculated as the force required to break per unit staple thickness, expressed as newtons per kilotex or N/tex.






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Staple is a term referring to naturally formed clusters or locks of wool
Wool

Wool is the fiber derived from the specialized skin cells, called follicles, of animals in the Caprinae family, principally domestic sheep, but the hair of certain species of other Mammalia such as cashmere goat, llamas, rabbits and keeshonds may also be called wool....
 fibres throughout a fleece that are held together by cross fibres. The staple strength of wool is one of the major determining factors when spinning
Spinning (textiles)

Spinning is an ancient textile arts in which fiber crop, animal fiber or synthetic fiber fibers are twisted together to form yarn . For thousands of years, fiber was spun by hand using simple tools, the Spindle and distaff....
 yarn as well as the sale price of greasy wool.

Virtually all fleece and better grade wool skirtings sold at auction
Auction

An auction is a process of trade goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the winning bidder....
 in Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
 are objectively measured prior to the sale with the average results printed in a catalogue.

Staple strength is calculated as the force required to break per unit staple thickness, expressed as newtons per kilotex or N/tex. Position of Break (POB) is measured in conjunction with staple strength and is a measure of the position in the staple (base, mid or tip) where it will break given enough force. Forty or more staples must be measured to in order to conform to the Australian Standard. Wools under 30 newtons per kilotex are considered tender. Currently wools over 40 newtons per kilotex are preferred and attract a premium. Seasonal conditions or the health of the sheep may influence the soundness (strength) of the wool.

The Australian Standard requires that sale lot has a minimum of 55 staples measured with the average calculated and produced. The variability of this measure is reported as the coefficient of variation
Coefficient of variation

In probability theory and statistics, the coefficient of variation is a normalization measure of statistical dispersion of a probability distribution....
 (CV%). Staple length generally determines the end use of wool, that is, whether it will be used in weaving or knitting. The longer wools are processed in the worsted system (weaving), which are called combing types, and are generally around 51 millimeters (mm) and longer. Short stapled wools are more profitably used in the woolen
Woolen

Woollen is the name of a yarn and cloth usually made from wool. Woollen yarn is known for being light, stretchy, and full of air. It is thus a good insulator, and makes a good knitting yarn....
 section where high grade material may be produced from superfine wool. Staple length (mm) is highly correlated with mean fibre length in the top (hauteur).

Although traditionally, staple length only referred to animal fibres, it is now used when referring to animal and manufactured fibres as well.

The opposite term is filament fibre, which is fibre that comes in continuous to near continuous lengths for use. Silk, taken from the cocoon of a silkworm, is called a silk filament.

See also

  • Micron (wool)
    Micron (wool)

    A micron is the measurement used to express the diameter of a wool fibre. The lower microns are the finer fibres. Fibre diameter is the most important characteristic of wool in determining its greasy value....
  • Wool
    Wool

    Wool is the fiber derived from the specialized skin cells, called follicles, of animals in the Caprinae family, principally domestic sheep, but the hair of certain species of other Mammalia such as cashmere goat, llamas, rabbits and keeshonds may also be called wool....
  • Wool classing
    Wool classing

    Wool classing is an occupation in which people are trained to produce uniform, predictable, low risk lines of wool. This is carried out by examining the characteristics of the wool in its raw state....

External links

  • - Lists different average staple lengths for various breeds, including pictures of measured staples lengths and staple-specific spinning notes.
  • - Staple Length & Strength Measurement
  • - Lists characteristics of various sheep breeds, including staple lengths and descriptions.