Unanswered Question?

[Belly]

Am I alone in this but I've often wondered why is it that wool on a sheep's back doesn't shrink, but as soon as that wool is turned into a pair of socks it does?

Why should that be?

 

[Cosimo]

Does your hair shrink when you get wet?

 

[godinman]

Wool only shrinks if it is woven tightly together into fabric. Sheep also secrete a substance, called lanolin, which covers the wool and makes it waterproof.

On the lighter side

They don't shrink until after you've thrown them in the dryer.

 

[Marky]

Am I alone in this but I've often wondered why is it that wool on a sheep's back doesn't shrink, but as soon as that wool is turned into a pair of socks it does?

Yep - it response to you being alone in thinking this

Dunno - in response to knowing the answer

 

[SamuraiTortoise]

Rain water isn't hot.

 

[aardvark]

because raw wool is coated as somebody said.
wool is processed and the coating is stripped off using a chlorine-based treatment - then it can be spun into fibre.
however, that also means it can now shrink under high temperatures.

 

[Six6siX]

Am I alone in this but I've often wondered why is it that wool on a sheep's back doesn't shrink, but as soon as that wool is turned into a pair of socks it does?

Why should that be?

It does. Sheep would actually the size of elephants if the wool didn't shrink.

 

[Efour]

Yep baby sheep are actually born 20ft tall, its only after their first winter that they shrink into the normal sized ones you see.

 

[Digitalle]

Rain water isn't hot.

Haha this

 

[mikeh501]

lol, surely its because the wool is still connected the to sheeps SKIN!

 

[Dutch Guy]

How do you know it doesn't shrink on a sheep?

 

[Belly]

How do you know it doesn't shrink on a sheep?

I don't but.............

If the wool on a live sheep shrunk as much as my Marks and Sparks socks the sheep wouldn’t be able to breath. (Yes I know, my feet don't breath either)

The real telling would be to wash a live sheep in chorine solution followed by twenty minutes in a twin tub and then a quick tumble dry. That would answer my question!

Thank Ewe one all all.

 

[Participant]

Rain water isn't hot.

That was my first thought!

 

[Fuzz]

Sheep aren't washed at 40 degrees C

 

[whitecrook]

Fact of the day:

Wool is one of the efw materials that will keep you warm, even it it's wet.

 

[Tefal]

The coating stops them shrinking that's why farmers have to regularly "shampoo" their sheep to remove the coating so they don't end up like this.

It's a result of the centuries of selective breeding so they now produce far more wool than they used to so the coating which used to protect their relatively thin coat now causes it to be far to big.



I'm welsh so have intimate knowledge of sheep.

 

[Fuzz]

He looks nice and toasty in there