Wool For other uses, see Wool (disambiguation).

Wool before processing Long and short hair wool at the South Central Family Farm Research Center in Booneville, Arkansas Wool section, Walcha show. The creamy fleeces on the left are crossbred wool. Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmerefrom goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, angora from rabbits, and other types of wool from camelids.[1] Wool has several qualities that distinguish it from hair or fur: it is crimped, it is elastic, and it grows in staples (clusters).[2] In the United States the term wool is usually restricted to describing the fibrous protein derived from the specialized skin cells called follicles in sheep, although in the UK it may be used of any long curling fiber such as wood wool, wire wool, etc. [3] Wool's scaling and crimp make it easier to spin the fleece by helping the individual fibers attach to each other, so they stay together. Because of the crimp, wool fabrics have a greater bulk than other textiles, and retain air, which causes the product to retain heat. Insulation works both ways: Bedouins and Tuaregs use wool clothes to keep heat out and protect the body.