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| A human hair Photo done by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) © 2010 University of Minnesota Duluth |
Some of this confusion seems to be a matter of word usage, as they are all the same protein (keratin), so technically they are all hair. However, some features that help distinguish the usage of terms: The thickness for example. Hair has lower density with 500 follicles/sq inch although not all are active at the same time, so let's say @100-200 follicles per sq inch should define hair. Sheep wool on the other hand, have up to 60,000 follicles/sq inch (Merino) and if the density is high, like a sea otter which has one of the highest densities at 800,000 per sq inch, the hair is referred to as fur.
Another characteristic that some use to distinguish between terms is the growth pattern. Fur grows to a certain length then stops, while wool and hair keeps on growing. Although, this all depends on species and genetics, but generally this seems a good separator. Fur tends to have a major shedding time annually. Only the primitive sheep (eg. Soay, Orkney, Hebridean) and the so called 'hair' sheep breeds (eg.Saint Croix, West African, Wiltshire Horn) shed annually.
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| Churro sheep wool. SEM Photo by Dave Lewis and the Ohio Agriculture Research and Development Center in Wooster |
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| Alpaca. Photo by Dave Lewis and the Ohio Agriculture Research and Development Center in Wooster |
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| Alpaca Light microscope photo showing the medulation (dark areas). Photo by Dave Lewis and the Ohio Agriculture Research and Development Center in Wooster |
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| Angora. Note the very interesting V-shape cell structure SEM Photo by Dave Lewis and the Ohio Agriculture Research and Development Center in Wooster |
Nice job! Very useful for me.
ReplyDeletecould you make a table plsssss
ReplyDeleteI too struggle with this. Great analysis, article. Only one suggestion, keratin, not keritine.
ReplyDeleteCan you please reply me with how to cite your work posted here?
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot.
Icelandic sheep have a dual coat consisting of two true wool fibers. The outer coat (called tog) is not a guard hair, but rather a coarser wool than the undercoat (called thel). The tog is similar to the longwools.
ReplyDeletefrom a utilitarian perspective, I am a spinner, wool is completely different from hair.
ReplyDeletea simple explanation is that wool has two characteristics that hair does not. wool has crimp and has the ability to create loft ( that soft squishy feel from yarn.) it also has the ability to felt. when you drag two wool fibers beside each other they have what is like little hooks on the outside of the shaft. These shafts will catch each other and cause the fibers to stick together. Rubbing these fibers together creates a material known as felt.
Hair on the other hand will tangle together to create locks that can be combed out if desired. felted wool is there for life.
hair does not have the ability to create a soft squishy type of single strand yarn. strands can be spun together to create a bit of loft but the individual strands are a strong tightly spun single.
there are almost limitless differences in the processes of each that produce a different finished product.
Wool is sensitive to heat and cold in that it opens the cuticles and then locks the fibers together with sudden change of temperature.
I hope this adds some additional understanding of the differences.
from a utilitarian perspective, I am a spinner, wool is completely different from hair.
ReplyDeletea simple explanation is that wool has two characteristics that hair does not. wool has crimp and has the ability to create loft ( that soft squishy feel from yarn.) it also has the ability to felt. when you drag two wool fibers beside each other they have what is like little hooks on the outside of the shaft. These shafts will catch each other and cause the fibers to stick together. Rubbing these fibers together creates a material known as felt.
Hair on the other hand will tangle together to create locks that can be combed out if desired. felted wool is there for life.
hair does not have the ability to create a soft squishy type of single strand yarn. strands can be spun together to create a bit of loft but the individual strands are a strong tightly spun single.
there are almost limitless differences in the processes of each that produce a different finished product.
Wool is sensitive to heat and cold in that it opens the cuticles and then locks the fibers together with sudden change of temperature.
I hope this adds some additional understanding of the differences.
What about alpaca fibre? Not a wool! felts, spins nicely etc. Has guard hairs!!!Some say it is hair! The scales are on all fibre/hair. Some have more layers etc. Alpaca has lots of crimp! Yet again it is not wool! Angora spins great , yet not wool, and crimp?
DeleteAs someone who has 'felted' hair or dreadlocks and felts with wool I assure you they all felt. In fact while learning how to spin we used dog 'fur' in the end it is all the same material with a few modifications to make it feel or behave slightly different depending on that mammals needs and genetics.
DeleteOh... Sheep wool fibers aren't hollow? But where does wool's insulating abilities come from then?
ReplyDeletewhen do you called it wool and when do you call it fur? you can make felt hats from rabbit fur and also fur coats but when it comes to sheep, its fur when its long and wool when its woven? so whats the correct name for each?
ReplyDeleteYou have performed a great job on this article.It’s very precise and highly qualitative. You have even managed to make it readable and easy to read. You have some real writing talent. Thank you so much. chunky wool yarn
ReplyDelete