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Show WHAT "SHODDY" .REALLY IS Most People Imaijine the Term Signifies Signi-fies Something Cheap and Na6ty. To most people llie term "shoddy" signifies something cheap and nnsty, but knolls made from ihe lust-class r:.L' are superior to many cloths made I'l olll low-gr.ide wools. ... A revival re-vival in demand is the more likely, as one of Hie great olliies of the shoddy tiade is to keep down the level of prices for wool goods. The use of sub-s'ituies sub-s'ituies for wool has In the past been due to the ilisllllieleney of Ihe world's supply of wool to make all Ihe clothing demanded, ami Ihis Insulliclency is very marked at Ihe moment in Ku-rope. Ku-rope. The tendency during the war was to use more wool and less rags. Many of the norma! sources of supply of rags, on the continent and elsewhere, else-where, were cut off from British manufacturers, man-ufacturers, and new rags, such as tailors' tail-ors' clippings, remnants and patterns were scarce. Thus there was a check to the manufacture of shoddy, using the term to cover all kinds of regenerated regen-erated wools. In n restricted sense shoddy denotes the soft rag wool obtained by tearing up long -libered, unfelied goods, hut in a wid.'r sense it signifies fill manufactured manufac-tured wools, as contrasted with tint--i rn I wools, and includes mimgo (which is obtained from short-liliered rsiirs). extract (obtained from cloths of mixed cotton and wool in which Ihe cotton Is reduced tn cellulose by the action of sulphuric acid and the wool liber preserved), and. finally, the flocks and wastes of different kinds which are collected in the woolen and worsted factories from the carding rooms, weaving sheds and fulling mills. These machine wasies are usually sold direct from the factory. The .manufacturing processes for I shoddy are elaborate. The raL's are first freed from dust and dry cleaned in a mechanical shaker, and then sorted sort-ed according to their color or quality. qual-ity. Buttons and seams are removed nnd the rags pass to the grinding machine, ma-chine, where the fibers are teased out. preserving, as far as possible, their original length. With a mixture of New- Zealand or other strong wool, shoddy makes a good yarn, while niiin-0 niiin-0 is used in many of the be'st fabrics, chiefly in the weft thread, or is employed employ-ed along with a cotton warp in the cheaper cloths. Rag wool thus finds Its way into many sections of the wool- j en trade and its total consumption Is estimated to exceed 200,000.000 pounds per annum. j One of the great difficulties confronting confront-ing the industry is lack of proper standards for the raw material. Hags ary infinitely in quality, color and condition, since every class of cloth, serge and tweed, as well as limited materials, such as stockings, are pressed press-ed into service. Uniform grading Is unattainable, especially as the work of the rug sorters must vary. The blending of rag wool is important, since the combination of colors secured by proper blending is eagerly sought after. To injure a correct blend p--quires a fine taste and a sense of color harmony which are comparatively rare. London Statist. |