A. Process:

1. Transport the wool to the scouring (washing) plant.

2. At the scouring plant, the bales are opened and the wool is mixed together to produce a particular blend

which meets the required specifications. This blend then undergoes a scouring process, whereby the wool is

washed in warm water through a series of baths. Upon leaving each successive bath, the wool gradually

becomes cleaner until such time as it is entirely clean with all traces of dirt, vegetable matter and lanolin

now removed leaving only the raw fibre remaining.

3. To complete the scouring process the wool is finally immersed in a solution which protects the fibres from

pests and further improves fire resistance.

4. Once dried, the wool is then carded (combed), so all of the fibres are running in the same direction. This

extremely thin layer of carded wool fibres is now layered numerous times to give the end product it's desired

thickness. These layers are mechanically bonded to produce a thick, strong roll of insulation.

5. Finally, these rolls are wound, packaged in 2 or 3 rolls per bag and colour-code labelled to facilitate easy

handling during installation. Sheep Wool Insulation is now ready to save energy for our newest customers!

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1) Clean wool. This means that you need to remove any dirt, debris, and lanolin. There are various ways to clean the

wool but you want to make sure that the method you choose does NOT felt the wool. Use COLD water to clean the

wool, not warm or hot. You may try anything from putting the wool in burlap sacks and sinking them in the river with

the cold water rushing over them to clean the wool. Or you may put the wool in front loading washing machine set on

the 'gentle' cycle. Do NOT use the top loading machines or you wool may turn to felt. You may use an industrial

detergent to clean the wool in the machine. You will know that the wool is clean and the lanolin is removed because

the wool will feel soft like a wet wool sweater and your fingers should not stick together after touching the wool. If

your fingers feel sticky, there is still more lanolin in the wool that needs to be removed.

2) Treat with Borax. You want to treat the wool with Borax (commonly sold as "20 Mule Team Borax Laundry

Additive") to repel insects. Borax is also used as a fire retardant. If you are using the washing machine to clean the

wool you could add the Borax instead of fabric softener. Otherwise dissolve Borax in hot water to make a solution

and spray on the wool as you lay or hang it to dry. Do not rinse it out. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find out

how much Borax you should use.

3)Card the wool. You now need to card the wool (when dry) to fluff it up creating air spaces between the fibres which

will give it loft and greater insulation value. Remember, things that are insulative are light and fluffy like a down quilt.

You may be able to find someone with a carding machine, otherwise you will need to card it by hand.

4) Make batts.You can now get strips of kraft paper to attach the wool to. This will hold the wool in place when you

put it in a wall cavity. If you are placing it between 2 x 4's as in standard construction practices, you will want to cut

strips of kraft paper 16" wide and as tall as your walls (for example). Spray the kraft paper with adhesive and lay

down your carded wool onto the kraft paper. It is important to use some kind of system like this so that the wool

insulation will not slump and settle in your wall. If it does, you will lose the insulation value that you were trying to

create. You will also have air spaces at the top of your walls that will transfer heat or cold through the walls.

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Although these companies were unwilling to discuss their actual manufacturing process in detail, the general process

of converting wool into insulation involves six major steps:

1. Skirting – this process involves removing the less desirable parts of the fleece, such as the belly hair or fleece

contaminated with large amounts of plant material or animal waste.

Ideally, this is performed after shearing and the wool purchased for further processing has already been skirted.

Producers are only paid on useable wool.

2. Scouring – This is the washing process. There are two common scouring methods: the soap and water process and

the carbonization process:

2.1. The carbonization scouring process has been used in wool manufacturing plants in Nova

Scotia and Prince Edward Island and involves adding sulphuric acid to the wool to neutralize it. This process turns the

detritus, such as hay and manure, into black pieces of carbon which then get washed out of the wool with soap and

water.

2.2. The soap and water method involves washing the wool in hot soapy water to remove dirt, grease and dry plant

matter from the fleece. The wool is rinsed at least twice to remove all of the unwanted detritus from the wool, before

it is washed with soap once and then rinsed a final time.

3. Chemical application - The composition of wool fibres requires chemical application to protect fibres from pests.

This typically consists of a borax solution that can be added during the rinsing process. Disodium octaborate

tetrahydrate (Murphy and Norton, 2008) can be added at a rate of 3% of the weight of the insulation batt

(Thermafleece, 2011).

4. Picking – This process involves the separation of wool fibers, by opening the locks to allow them to be processed

further.

5. Carding - The carding process separates the wool fibres and “combs” them into the same direction.in preparation

for further processing. Any dry plant material still in the wool should fall out during this step. This is the slowest step

in the manufacturing process (after washing is finished), and it is assumed that the equipment used in the feasibility

analysis of this study can process 5lbs per hour.

6. Packaging – Packaging the final product is the last step in the manufacturing process, where the final insulation

product is bundled into a form that can be distributed and sold to consumers. For mass production of wool insulation,

production companies typically have “scouring plants” where bales of raw sheep’s wool are brought. According to the

Irish company Sheep’s Wool Insulation, these bales will be marked with the contents, describing the fiber thickness,

length, colour and vegetable matter content. Each bale is typically press packed with over 400kg of wool. Bales of

such high volume minimize the cost and energy required to transport the wool to the scouring plant. At the scouring

plant, the bales are opened and the wool is mixed together to produce various blends. These blends then undergo a

scouring process, whereby the wool is washed in warm water through a series of baths (Sheep’s Wool Insulation,

n.d.a).

B. Types of products:

1. Thermal Insulation

Thermal insulation minimises unwanted heat loss or gain from occurring in your roof, walls and floors. The

insulation rolls are made from pure new sheep's wool and are available in Premium, Optimal or Comfort

ranges to suit various applications.

***densitate diferita

Premium Rolls - Sheep Wool Insulation's high performance Premium range of thermal/acoustic insulation

rolls have a density of 20kg of wool per cubic metre. This weight makes Premium the ideal choice for

your floors, walls, roofline and acoustic applications. Premium is the most effective fibrous insulation

available on the market today.

Comfort Rolls - Sheep Wool Insulation's new Comfort insulation rolls bring together performance and value to

floor and ceiling level applications. Comfort insulation rolls have a density of 14kg of wool per cubic metre,

ensuring ongoing efficiency from the safest and most environmentally friendly insulation available.

Optimal Rolls - Sheep Wool Insulation's new Optimal insulation rolls are the best available solution for all

standard applications including walls, roofline, ceilings and floors. Optimal insulation rolls have a density of

18kg of wool per cubic metre, and come with a support felt for easy installing.

2. Acoustic Underlay

Reduce airborne (music, speech) and structureborne (vibrations, footsteps) sound transfer within your build

with our range of acoustic underlay products. Choose from SilentFloor, SilentJoist and SilentCarpet to make

your floor a quiet one.

3. Cylinder Jackets

Sheep Wool Insulation's latest energy saving product, the Eco-Economiser will minimise heat loss from

domestic hot water tanks and save you money for years to come. Our cylinder jackets also ensure you no

longer need to worry about potentially harmful glass fiber particles settling on your clothes, towels and

sheets. 

4. Window Insulation

Window insulation products made from natural sheep's wool.

 

5.