Wool

Wool is a protein fiber. It is crimped and elastic. Crimped makes wool bulky and helps it to retain heat, it also absorbs moisture and sound because it is hallow. Wool is normally creamy white in colour, but it can also be black, brown, or silver in colour. It is also hyperallergenic (in other words it causes few allergies in human beings). The main source of wool is sheep, the wool yielding animal bears a thick coat of hair on its body. The hair traps a lot of air in it, since air is a poor conductor of heat, it keeps the animal worm and dry allowing it to live in cold and harsh climates.The hairy skin of the sheep has two types of fibers: 1) The coarse beard hair 2) The fine soft hair close to the skin. The fine hair provides the fibers for making woolen clothes and the coarse hair provides wool for making carpets etc.

Wool yielding animals: Some animals other than the sheep also produce wool. They are Yalk, its wool is common in Tibet and Ladakh. Angora goat, it is found in hilly regions such as Jammu and Kashmir, the wool obtained from it is called as angora wool. Kashmiri goat, the wool obtained from it is very soft and it is used in weaving fine shawls, these shawls are popular as pashmina shawls in India. Camel, the fur on the body of the camel is also used as wool. Llama and Alapaca, they found in south america and they produce wool.