Scottish Blackface - Scottish Blackface Wool

Scottish Blackface Wool

Scottish Blackface wool is a speciality wool in a class of its own. There are variations in type of fleece according to the way the sheep were bred. In general, there are a southwest type (short wool) and a central Scotland type (long wool). The southwest type is the finer, with a Bradford count of forty or so, generally classed as short or medium: ewe's fleece of 3 to 4½ lb, greasy. The central type is a stronger wool classed as long or deep strong; this type gives a ewe fleece of 5 to 6½ lb, greasy. The main markets are the mattress and upholstery trade, carpet and heavy cloth trade. Strong Blackface wool undoubtedly makes the best mattress filling there is: the demand for this is very good. The carpet trade all over the world (even New Zealand and Australia) uses large quantities of the medium class of Scottish Blackface wool. The finer wools are used for blending into many of the strong wearing clothes, over-coating,working tweeds and heavy blankets, The finest Scottish Blackface wool goes to the famous Harris tweed trade.

The American Sheep Industry Association reports an average fibre diameter of 38 to 28 micrometres (or microns), and staple length of 10 to 14 inches (250 to 360 mm).

Artisans have long treasured the horns of the Blackface for the carving of shepherd's crooks and walking sticks. In the US the fleeces are becoming of interest to fibre artists and hand spinners for use in tapestry and the making of rugs and saddle blankets.