We produce natural fibre yarns ideal for large and small-scale clothing producers to dye to their own specifications and colours. Yarns are supplied in hanks for dying. The process of converting fleece to fibre takes approximately 4 to 6 weeks. These are the steps in the process.

The fleece is placed in the blending machine where the fibre is opened up, and a water-soluble lubricant is added to reduce static and dust. From there the fibre is loaded into the carding machines which have a series of rollers with opposing teeth that force open the fibre.

 There are two lines of carding machines. The first is for worsted and semi-worsted yarn fibres which produces a long sliver of yarn with aligned, parallel fibres. The second carding line produces woollen spun yarn which mixes the fibre, before they are sent for spinning.

From the carding machines the worsted and semi-worsted fibre goes to be gilled. The gilling process has three steps. The first gilling machine removes the natural hooks in the wool, while the second evens out the weight in each sliver. The final gilling machine sets the weight for spinning.

The semi-worsted fibre is now ready for spinning, while the worsted (which is the most highly processed yarn) goes through another stage called combing. Combing removes the short fibre content and vegetable matter from the wool to create a smooth sleek yarn. Worsted fibre then undergoes two further gills.

Now all the fibres (worsted, semi-worsted, fine and course woollen spun yarn) are ready for spinning. This stretches the fibre, adding a twist to give it strength. The last stage in the processing is twisting where individual yarns are combined to create greater strength and better presentation. We have a double-sided ring twister and can twist to any specification.

Finally, the yarn is gathered into cones for weaving looms, hanks for dying, and balls for knitting. The balls are steamed which bulks the fibre and sets the twists. You can purchase all three of these types of yarn directly from us.

If you’re a wool grower or have over 120kgs of scoured wool you’d like processed into yarn please contact us to find out more about how we can create beautiful yarn for you.

* Canterbury Wool Scours, based in Washdyke, Timaru are local scourers who remove the dirt and grease from the fleece. Unscoured fleece can’t be processed as the grease clogs up the machinery.