What Does 'Carding The Wool' Mean?

Carding the wool means cleaning, separating and straightening wool fibers. It is the last stage in the process which prepares fleece for spinning. It is done after the wool is 'teased' meaning fluffing the wool with swift side to side movements. Carding is done either manually or with the help of machines.

Carding is not applied universally to all fibers, for instance flax is not carded but threshed instead. Bast, wool and cotton are generally carded. Different colours or a mixture of fibers is also possible with carding. The hand driven carding machine was the invention of Lewis Paul in 1748. He hailed from Birmingham in England. His rather rudimentary invention was developed by Samuel Crompton and Richard Arkwright .

Manual carding is done with the help of hand cards. They are a couple of wooden paddles which have wire teeth. In order to straighten the wool fibres they are brushed thoroughly with the hand cards. This results in soft fluffy wool which can be easily spun. Machine carding is done with a device called a drum carder.