Glossary of Terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Carbonising |
The removal of vegetable matter from wool fibre using acid solution. These are usually very burry wools, from which the vegetable fault cannot economically be removed by mechanical methods. This is followed by baking and crushing to remove the dissolved vegetable matter.
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| Carding wool or types |
Wool suitable for the woollen system of yarn production where wool is carded but not combed. It is shorter (less than 40mm) than combing or worsted trade wools.
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| Cast | 1. A class made for lower grade fleeces. 2. A sheep that has been lying down and unable to get up for a period of time. |
| Cast for age |
A sheep rejected from the flock due to old age.
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| Castrate |
Removing the testicles from a male sheep.
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| Catalogue |
Printed list, prepared by the selling broker, showing the lot number, owner's brand, test results, description of the wool and the number of bales in each lot. Catalogues are supplied to buyers for valuing purposes and to growers when they inspect their wool.
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| Catching pen |
Pen adjoining the board where the shearer catches their sheep prior to shearing.
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| Character |
Clarity or evenness of the crimp or wave in a staple of wool.
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| Chute |
The ramp down which a sheep slides into the count-out pen after being shorn.
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| Classing |
Matching or grading wool into similar lines for marketing by the woolclasser.
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| Clean Colour |
The colour of wool after scouring. Clean colour is measured in terms of brightness and yellowness, both of which can affect dyeing potential.
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| Clip |
The total amount of wool shorn on a property in one year.
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| Code of Practice |
Industry agreed minimum standards for the Preparation of the Australian Wool Clip.
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| Colorimeter |
Instrument used to determine the colour of wool by measuring the tri-stimulus values of the sample.
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| Combing |
A process performed after scouring, carding and gilling to remove most of the short fibre (noil), neps and foreign matter, leaving the longer fibres lying parallel to the direction of the sliver. The product, after two more gillings, is called top.
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