Greasy wool contains substantial amounts of contaminants. Before it can be used as a textile fibre these contaminants must be removed by a scouring (washing) process

There are four principal issues associated with wool scouring. These are:

• effective contaminant removal
• minimal fibre entanglement
• product quality
• cost minimisation

High levels of residual contaminant on the scoured wool show up as poor colour, dirt/oil accumulation on processing equipment, deleterious interactive effects with processing additives, poor drafting performance, poor dyeing and dust accumulation in the mill.

Fibre entanglement leads to breakage in the subsequent carding and combing operations leading to reduced hauteur, or top length, and increased wastage as noil.