What is the carded wool?
Carding is a specific way of processing fibers. The yarns are produced using virgin fibers but also reusing fibers obtained from recycling old clothing or knits, and cuttings of new fabrics used in the garment industry. The important feature of this process is that it can use short fibers and different lengths, in blends of the most variable composition. The result is a yarm with a particular aspect that distinguishes it from the other type of yarm knows as worsted.
Regenerated wool provided, for over a century, a phenomenal opportunity for the development and growth of the textile district of Prato on world markets.
The techniques of the “recycling process” in addition to being fascinating to watch, indicate a culture that has concern for the environment, respect for human resources and a tradition of skill and serious professional entrepreneurship.
The use of regenerated fibers has been neglected in recent years with the discovery of new synthetics and the growing demand for more expensive virgin fibers, partly as the response to expanding economies and also to the new consumer logic.
In the carding process, this has led to increased creativity and the production of yarns that are even more unusual and precious in compositions with an inimitable fashion content. We now have “carded products in cashmere, angora, alpaca, mohair or other fine wools in blends with silk and viscose.