WOOL might be white but is it really white enough?
The world's fabric manufacturers and designers say it isn't, despite what many breeders of Australia's finest Merinos might boast.
What concerns the designers is that because wool's whiteness can't match the whiteness of cotton, wool is missing out on the very valuable "trans-seasonal" apparel market, which demands a light pastel-shade product.
But the latest research from the Sheep Co-operative Research Centre has wool heading for a breakthrough.
The CSIRO's Keith Millington, leader of the Sheep CRC's project for developing whiter, lightfast wool, said the production of pure-woollen fabric depended on a combination of factors - Merino genetics, environment and processing.
Dr Millington said there were genetic differences between sheep in their propensity to produce white wool, which he said could only be measured at the clean, rather than the greasy, stage.
As for the environment, Dr Millington said wool was likely to be whiter if there was less exposure to sunlight.
"A Tasmanian flock or a shedded flock was more likely to produce a white fleece than say a flock out of Queensland," he said.
As for processing, Dr Millington said a handicap was in the chlorine Superwash treatment for preventing shrinkage.
Although this Superwash treatment was very effective, it tended to leave a harsher fabric that was more susceptible to discolouring, making it unsuitable for producing pastel-shaded "close-to-the- skin" knitwear.
Taking on board the genetic, environment and processing factors, the Sheep CRC, in conjunction with CRC partner The Merino Company, opted to process two bales of 18.1-micron Merino fleece wool from Henry Foster's Merton Vale flock, at Campbell Town, in Tasmania.
Wool from the Merton Vale flock is noted for its whiteness.
And, rather than use a chlorine Superwash treatment, the CRC instead used a conventional peroxide-bleach treatment, which was more favourable to the feel or handle of the wool.
Dr Millington said this processed wool had been knitted in The Merino Company's New Zealand Levana plant and was now being made into a range of fine-wool knitwear.
Dr Millington was confident of breakthrough for wool, even going so far as to suggest an economic benefit of $2-$3 per ewe per year.
As for selecting sheep producing white wool, Dr Millington was hopeful that the Sheep in CRC's Information Nucleus flock would identify the right white sheep.
