Selective Scouring of Dirt from Greasy Wool

Abstract

A strategy to increase dirt recovery from wool scouring liquors was tested in a series of five trials at commercial plants. By adding nonionic surfactant and alkaline builder to a cold or warm desuinting bowl (modified system) ahead of the usual hot scouring train, a large fraction of the dirt was scoured from the wool before the grease was removed. The first bowl liquors were rich in dirt and low in grease and had good dirt settling characteristics. Without the additions (control), the desuinting bowl removed large amounts of dirt only from coarser wools with relatively high water soluble and low grease contents. In a trial on merino fleece wool with low water solubles and high grease content, the scoured product from the modified system contained less residual ash and was whiter than the product from the control system.