CHAPTER XIV 

 WOOL-SCOURING 



Methods of wool-scouring Drying the wool Scouring small samples 

 to ascertain yield of wool. 



WOOL-SCOURING is the first mechanical process which greasy wool 

 undergoes. Wool-scouring, or washing, as it is sometimes called, 

 removes all the grease or yolk and earthy matters which all greasy 

 wools contain. 



There are several methods of scouring, such as pot-sticking, 

 Williams's Boxes, and by machine. Wool can be well scoured by 

 any of these methods, but the machine turns out the most 

 attractive work. All manufacturers and scourers who have large 

 quantities of wool to scour use the machine, as it is by far the 

 fastest method of scouring. There are several different makes of 

 scouring machines in Australia. The two most used are Hall's an 

 Australian-made machine and McNaught's, an English machine. 

 McNaught's machine contains four tanks. Most of the yolk and 

 dirt is taken out of the wool in the first tank. This tank does not 

 require a very strong liquor, as the yolk in the wool acts as a soap 

 itself. The temperature of the scouring liquors varies, as some 

 wools require much warmer and stronger liquors to scour them 

 than others; the average temperature is about 115 F. The 

 greasy wool is thrown into the first tank of the scouring machine. 

 It is then gently propelled forward by forks which have a circular 

 motion ; these forks gradually get the wool to the end of the tank. 

 It is next caught by two rollers which squeeze most of the liquor 

 and dirt out of it, which runs back into the tank. 



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