Wool. It is a covering that is formed which coats an animal usually a sheep or goat that keeps the animal warm and dry. It is also called a fleece. It keeps the animal warm and dry, allowing it to live in cold and harsh climates. Wool regulates temperature, breathable and water resistant. Moreover, it has an excellent moisture wicking properties. It can pull the moisture into the fiber so it does not feel wet or damp at all. Wool is used by people in variety of textiles and other means.
The most popular type of wool due to its widely availability and high versatility is the sheep’s wool. It is usually preferred for many reasons such as it is wrinkle resistant; static-free and flame retardant; colorfast when dyed; maintains shape when stretched; and most of all it is soft, durable, and easy to work with.
What are wool rugs? One of the wool products that are commercially available are wool rugs. These are one of the most popular and desired home accessories which are commonly placed on the floor of in a home to add warmth and accent to a room. There are many types of wool and each of them is unique. It has different factors as to why each of them is one of a kind. It may depend on the gender and the age of the animal, its health, and the place where it originates. Syria, Australia and Libya are just some places where wool are being harvested and being made into rugs.
It is also vital to know that certain feel for wool which differentiates it better than other materials that are used for making rugs. The finer, short to medium fibers tends to felt quicker and better than the longer fibers. In many Oriental rug designs, the weavers gathered longer fiber bearing greater overall density sometimes twice the size of other fiber, thus giving rise to a very distinct feel for the rug making it a much more appealing to people.
Different breeds of sheep and goats produce wool which forms a wide variety of length, fiber diameter, color, crimp patterns and curls. Over 40 different breeds of sheep are being used from different places of the world. www.1st4rugs.co.uk They all produce around 200 varying standard and types of wools. The major wool producers in the world are China, South Africa, Argentina and Australia. Wool rugs originated exclusively in the middle and Far East. China, Persia and Turkey are the most famous countries who contribute to a range variety of design and characteristic of wool rugs. Different techniques are applied to wool rugs depending on where they are made. Today, the highest value rugs are still from China and Turkey which are distributed throughout the world.