Not all wool will felt well. Some types of fleece take a very long time to
form into a cohesive unit which can be fulled. Some types of fleece will
never make a strong, tight felt. This chart lists some of the types of wool
I (or my felting friends) have successfully used for felting. Remember that
not all wool is good for every type of felting. While a coarse fleece makes
a good carpet felt, it would not be flexible enough for a garment. While
a fine wool is soft and flexible, it would pill too badly if used in a carpet
on the floor.
(In the following chart, Bradford count refers to the number of hanks
of yarn (each 560 yards long) that can be spun from one pound of wool top.
Wool with the high counts are finer and can be spun into longer, finer
yarn.)
| Fine type wool ranges from 64s - 80s (or finer than 80s) = less than 22 Microns | Medium-coarse wool ranges from 48s - 50s = 32 to 30 Microns |
| Medium-fine wool ranges from 56s - 62s = 27 to 23 Microns | Coarse wool ranges from 44s - 48s = 39 to 35 Microns |
| Medium type wool ranges from 50s - 55s = 30 to 27 Microns | Very coarse wool ranges from 36s - 40s (or coarser than 36s) = 40 or larger Microns |
For more information on
wool sizing
systems see the excellent web page by Gleason's Fine Woolens.
| BREED | BRADFORD SPINNING COUNT |
MICRON COUNT |
BREED | BRADFORD SPINNING COUNT |
MICRON COUNT |
| Fine and Medium Fine Wools | Medium and Long Wools | ||||
| Merino | 60-80s | 22-18 | Icelandic –Dual Coated | ||
| Rambouillet | 60-80s | 25-19 | Outer Wool (Tog fiber) | 56-60s | 30-27 |
| Delaine | 64-80s | 25-19 | Under Wool (Thel fiber) | 64-70s | 22-19 |
| Debouillet (Delaine x Rambouillet) | 62-80s | 25-19 | Blue Faced Leicester | 56-60’s | 30-27 |
| Cormo (Corriedale x Saxon Merino) | 60-64s | 25-22 | Polypay (Targhee/Dorset x Rambouillet/Finn) | 48-58s | 32-26 |
| Targhee (Rambouillet x Corriedale) | 58-64s | 26-23 | Pälsul (Also known as Götland) | 48-52s | 32-28 |
| Polwarth (N.Z. Merino x Lincoln/Merino) | 58-64s | 26-22 | Perendale (Cheviot x Romney) | 46-52s | 34-28 |
| Finn (American imported Finnish Landrace) | 50-60s | 32-25 | Icelandic | 46-52s | 34-28 |
| Finull (Fine Wool) (Swedish Landrace x Finnish Landrace) | 50-60s | 30-25 | Jacob | 44-56s | 36-32 |
| Columbia (Lincoln x Rambouillet) | 50-50s | 31-24 | Leicester Longwool | 40-46s | 38-32 |
| Panama (Rambouillet x Lincoln) | 56-58s | 28-26 | Romney | 44-48s | 36-31 |
| Shetland | 54-58s | 27-26 | Coopworth (Border Leicester x Romney) | 44-48s | 36-31 |
| Corriedale (Leicester/Lincoln/Merino) | 50-58s | 34-23 | Cotswold | 44-48s | 36-31 |
| Falkland Island (Corriedale family) | 46-58s | 34-26 | Wensleydale | 44-48s | 36-31 |
| N.Z. Half-bred (Leicester/Lincoln/Romney x Merino) | 50-58s | 30-26 | Border Leicester (Leicester x Cheviot) | 44-46s | 38-33 |
| Lincoln | 36-40s | 40-37 | |||
| Ryaul (Rya Wool) | ? | ? | |||
| Spelsau | ? | ? | |||
| Coarse Wools | |||||
| Karakul | 36-50s | 40+-30 | |||
| Navajo Churro-Dual Coated | |||||
| Outer Wool | 36-40s | 40+-40 | |||
| Under Wool | 62s | 23-22 | |||
| Mongolian | ? | ? | |||
| Scottish Blackface | 28-40s | 43+-40 |
To check to see if the wool you have is a good felting wool, see
testing a fleece.
Patricia Spark copyright 1994, 2006