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Throughout the Nomenclature, "wool" means the natural fibre grown by sheep or lambs. Wool fibres are essentially composed of the protein keratin, and have a characteristic scaly surface. They are elastic, extremely hygroscopic (absorb moisture from the air) and, as a rule, have marked felting properties. Wool is almost uninflammable, but chars giving off an odour akin to that of burnt horn.
This heading covers sheep's or lambs' wool, not carded or combed, whether obtained by shearing the animal or the pelt of the dead animal (shorn wool), or by pulling from the pelt after fermentation or appropriate chemical treatment (e.g., pulled wool, slipe wool or skin wool).
Uncarded and uncombed wool is generally in the form of :(A) Greasy, including fleece-washed wool.
Greasy wool is wool not yet washed or otherwise cleaned; it is therefore still impregnated with wool grease and fatty matter derived from the animal itself and may contain an appreciable quantity of impurities (burrs, seeds, earth, etc.). Greasy shorn wool is often in the form of "fleeces" having more or less the contours of the pelt.
Greasy pulled wool is removed from sheep or lamb skins by a fermentation ("sweating") process in which the fibres and the skin are subjected to the combined action of heat and moisture. It may also be removed by a depilatory method in which the flesh side of the skins is treated with a sodium sulphide or lime solution. Such wool is recognizable by the presence of hair roots.
Fleece-washed wool is wool washed in cold water while still on the animal or before being pulled from the pelt. It is incompletely cleaned.
Greasy wool is normally yellowish. Some, however, is grey, black, brown or russet in colour. (B) Degreased wool, not carbonised.
This category includes : (1) Hot-washed wool - washed with hot water only and relieved of the majority of wool grease and earthy matter. (2) Scoured wool - wool from which the grease has been removed almost entirely by washing with hot water and soap or other detergents or with alkaline solutions. (3) Wool treated with volatile solvents (such as benzene and carbon tetrachloride) to remove grease. (4) Frosted wool - this has been subjected to a sufficiently low temperature to freeze the grease. The grease is then in a very brittle state and is easily broken up and removed as dust together with a large part of the natural impurities which are held in the wool by the grease.
Mostwashed and degreased wools still contain small amounts of grease and vegetable matter (burrs, seeds, etc.); this vegetable matter is removed mechanically at a later stage (see the Explanatory Note to heading 51.05) or by carbonisation. (C) Carbonised wool.
Carbonising eliminates any vegetable matter still contained in the wools referred to at (B) above. The wool is immersed in a bath, usually of mineral acids or acid salts, which destroys the vegetable matter but does not affect the wool fibres.
Bleaching, dyeing or other processes applied prior to carding or combing do not affect the classification of wool in this heading. This heading excludes : (a) Raw hides and skins, whether or not split, including sheepskins in the wool (heading 41.02 or 43.01). (b) Wool wastes of heading 51.03 or garnetted stock of wool of heading 51.04. (c) Combed wool in fragments (heading 51.05).
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