Processing the raw wool
It takes quality wool to make a quality carpet. It's one
of the key reasons that Cavalier Bremworth's parent company owns
one of the biggest wool buying companies in New Zealand, and
has a 50% stake in the largest, most efficient wool scour operation
in the world.
Stalking the wool sheds of New Zealand
The best type of wool for carpet making is a coarse wool, around
36-40 microns and between 75-100mm long. Lengthy fibres are
needed to bind the fibres together and provide strength, while the
whiteness of New Zealand wool makes it among the best in the world
for dyeing lighter and pastel shades.
Elco Direct is a Cambridge-based business that buys much of the
wool used for Cavalier Bremworth carpets. Their expert team
deals directly with growers and have an in-depth knowledge of both
the farms and the farmers, often being in the shed at shearing time
and advising on correct preparation standards. Much of the
wool comes from Romney-cross sheep, prevalent in the North
Island.
Buying wool low in vegetable matter is critical when it comes to
producing carpet that is clean and clear. Gorse remnants
poking through is never a good look (or feel) so when and where the
wool is bought is a key factor.
Washing the woollens..
The next step is the wool scour and Cavalier Corporation has a
50% stake in Cavalier Wool Scourers which operates two very modern
and large capacity wool scours in Napier and Timaru. Last
year, Napier set a new world record scouring more than 280,000
bales - which equates to more than 10 million fleeces!
At the scour, the first step is to assemble the greasy wool into
scourments which are usually 20 ton clean. Then a critical sorting
phase ensures that the wool is up to the quality required for
carpet making. The wool is blended and opened to ensure a
homogenous blend. It then passes through the scour lines,
being washed in biodegradable detergent to remove the dirt and
other deposits.
The wool is dried to exacting standards and then pressed. From
there the wool is tested bale by bale to ensure that it meets the
required standard before being sent to one of the two spinning and
dyeing plants that Cavalier's carpet making operation has in Napier
and Wanganui.
But more on that in the section on turning Wool into
Yarn.