Fiber Fineness Tables and Processed Wool Terminology

Feb. 19th, 2010 at 2:11 AM

gnomenapper
Fiber Fineness Table by Bradford Count and Micron Count

Fineness Micron Count Bradford Count
Fine Wool 17-20 64s
Medium Wool 22-29 62s-50s
Coarse Wool 31-34 48s-44s
Very Coarse Wool 36-40 40s-36s


Sheep Wool Fineness Table by Bradford and Micron Count

Sheep Breed Micron Count Bradford Count
Arapawa 17 80s
Balwen Welsh Mountain 32 56s
Beulah Speckled Face 26-31 56s-50s
Black Welsh Mountain 28-31 54s-50s
Blue Faced Leicester 24-28 60s-56s
Bond 23-28 60s-56s
Border Leicester 37-40 48s-36s
Borderdale 30-35 54s-48s
Bowmont 17 80s
British Bleu du Maine 27-32 56s-50s
British Charollais 24-28 60s-56s
British Friesland 28-31 54s-50s
British Oldenburg 27-28 48s-46s
BritishVendeen 23-28 60s-56s
Blue Texel 27-28 46s
California Red 28-31 54s-50s
California Variegated Mutant 21-25 64s-60s
Cheviot 28-33 56s-48s
Clun Forest 25-28 58s-56s
Columbia 24-31 60s-50s
Coopworth 35-39 48s-44s
Cormo 21-23 64s-58s
Corriedale 26-33 58s-50s
Cotswold 34-40 46s-36s
Dartmoor 36-40 40s-36s
Debouillet 19-24 80s-62s
Derbyshire Gritstone 27-31 56s-48s
Devon Closewool 28-34 54s-46s
Devon Longwool 36-40 40s-32s
Dormer 23-25 60s-58s
Dorset Down 26-29 58s-54s
Dorset Horn 27-32 56s-50s
English Leicester 37-40 46s-40s
Exmoor Horn 28-32 54s-48s
Finnish Landrace 24-31 60s-50s
Galway 24-33 56s-50s
Gotland 28-32 52s-48s
Gromark 28-34 54s-46s
Hampshire 26-30 58s-54s
Hebridean 29-36 50s-44s
Herwick 36-40 40s +
Hill Radnor 28-33 54s-48s
Icelandic (thel) 19-22 70s-64s
Icelandic (tog) 28-31 54s-50s
Ile de France 23-28 60s-56s
Jacob 26-33 56s-48s
Kerry Hill 26-29 56s-52s
Lincoln 36-38 40s-36s
Llanwenog 25-28 58s-56s
Lleyn 26-31 56s-50s
Lonk 28-34 54s-46s
Manx Loaghtan 28-32 54s-46s
Masham 29-34 50s-46s
Merino 17-24 70s-60s
Montadale 25-30 58s-54s
Mule 28-34 54s-46s
Navajo-Churro (outercoat) 38+ 36s +
Navajo-Churro (undercoat) 22-23 62s
NZ Halfbred 25-31 58s-50s
Norfolk Horn 26-29 56s-54s
North Ronaldsay 26-31 56s-50s
Oxford Down 28-34 54s-50s
Panama 25-30 58s-50s
Perendale 28-35 56s-48s
Polwarth 21-26 64s-58s
Polypay 22-28 62s-56s
Portland 26-31 56s-50s
Rambouillet 18-24 80s-60s
Romanov (outercoat) 40+ 36s +
Romanov (undercoat) 16-22 80s-64s
Romeldale 21-25 64s-60s
Romney 33-37 50s-46s
Rouge de l’Ouest 23-25 60s-58s
Rough Fell (mixed coat) 36-40+ 40s +
Ryeland 26-32 56s-50s
Scottish Blackface 36-40+ 40s +
Shetland 23-30 60s-50s
Shropshire 26-30 58s-50s
Soay 29-36 50s-44s
South Dorset Down 25-28 58s-56s
South Hampshire 25-28 58s-56s
South Suffolk 23-28 60s-56s
Southdown 23-28 60s-56s
Spelsau (outercoat) 37-40 46s-40s
Spelsau (undercoat) 19-22 70s-64s
Suffolk 26-28 58s-56s
Swaledale (mixed coats) 36-40+ 40s-30s
Targhee 22-27 64s-58s
Teeswater 30-36 50s-44s
Texel 26-34 56s-46s
Tunis 25-30 58s-50s
Welsh Half-Bred 26-31 54s-46s
Welsh Hill Speckled Face 29-33 50s-48s
Welsh Mountain 32-40 48s-36s
Welsh Mountain Badger Face 26-34 56s-46s
Wensleydale 30-36 50s-44s
White Faced Woodland 28-31 54s-50s
Zwartbles 26-29 56s-54s


Other Fibers Fineness Table by Micron Count

Fiber Microns
Alpaca 17-35
Angora 12-16
Bombyx Silk 10-13
Camel 15-22
Cashmere 14-18.5
Cotton 13-21
Guanaco 14-18
Hemp 18-23
Linen 15-17
Llama 22-29
Mohair 25-45
Quiviut 14-19
Tussah Silk 28-30
Vicuna 13-16
Yak 18-20

Raw or Processed Wool

Raw

Simple. Pure. Natural. Explore the unique, inherent qualities of your fibers without someone else making the decision of how it will be processed. For the fiber artist, sheep lover, and adventurous in spirit, these wools are for you.

Sliver (Top)

Beautiful, smooth, combed fibers. For those of us who want our fiber ready to spin. Wool slivers have been commercially combed. The fibers lay parallel and are perfect for spinning worsted style yarns, spinning from the fold, and for your own blending experiments. The results are smooth yarns. This is the stuff dreams are made of. Inspire yourself.

Roving

Is time of the essence? Do you love long draw? Roving is your answer. Unlike slivers, the fibers prepared into rovings are carded so that they overlap and are not parallel. If you are looking for a yarn that has loft, bounce, and are soft, choose rovings, batts, or rolags.

Batts

Batts are made from fibers that have been processed by a drum carder or other carding machines. They are suitable for woolen spinning. The fibers will overlap like they do in rovings.

Rolags

Rolags are produced with hand carders. They are easy to work with, are similar to roving, and the fibers overlap. For instructions on how to make a rolag, see here.