The history of wool begins with the domestication of sheep more than 11,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent of Western Asia, and it runs through Babylonian herders, Roman breeders, the medieval English wool trade and the arrival of Merino sheep in Australia in 1797. Over those thousands of years the way wool is processed changed from hand spinning to industrial mills, and the types of wool multiplied from one fleece to dozens of breeds and grades. Down-Under Wool has worked with Australian Merino wool since 1988; this guide covers where wool came from, how wool is processed from shearing to yarn, and the main types of wool you will see on a label.
If you are looking for a plain definition first, start with what wool is and what it is made of.
What is the origin of wool?
Wool originated with the domestication of sheep in Western Asia more than 11,000 years ago. A 2025 ancient-DNA study published in Science traced domestic sheep to wild mouflon captured in the northern Fertile Crescent, with the earliest sheep-herding village in its sample at Aşıklı Höyük in central Türkiye (Trinity College Dublin).
Those first sheep were kept for meat, milk and hides. Wild sheep have a hairy outer coat, and the soft, woolly fleece we shear today came later: researchers writing in Scientific Reports describe selective breeding adding fiber for wool "several thousand years later." According to The Woolmark Company, herders in Babylonia were the first to separate wool sheep from meat sheep.
The history of wool: a timeline
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| 11,000+ years ago | Sheep domesticated from wild mouflon in the northern Fertile Crescent |
| Several thousand years later | Selective breeding produces sheep with a woolly fleece |
| Babylonia | Herders separate wool sheep from meat sheep |
| Roman times | Signs of selective breeding for a better fleece; Spain becomes a center of fine-wool sheep |
| 14th century | Wool is the backbone of England's economy; the Woolsack, a wool-stuffed seat, is introduced in the House of Lords as a symbol of that wealth |
| Late 18th century | The Industrial Revolution moves spinning and weaving from homes into mills and factories |
| 1797 | The first Merino sheep from Spain's Royal Merino flocks arrive in Australia |
| 1807 | John Macarthur ships Australia's first wool export |
| 1940 | The US Wool Products Labeling Act requires wool content to be disclosed on labels |
| 1964 | The Woolmark logo, a stylized skein of wool, is launched |
| Today | Australia grows about 345 million kilos of wool a year, roughly a quarter of the world's wool |
Sources: Woolmark, the history of Merino wool; UK Parliament, Woolsack; FTC rules under the Wool Products Labeling Act (16 CFR Part 300); Woolmark, 60 years of the Woolmark; Woolmark, where wool comes from.
How did wool come to Australia?
Wool came to Australia with British settlers, and fine wool came with the Merino in 1797. The First Fleet's sheep (1788) were kept mainly for meat. The 1797 Merinos, descended from Spain's Royal Merino flocks, came by way of the Cape in South Africa, and Australian farmers bred them for even finer wool. John Macarthur shipped the first Australian wool export in 1807.
Australia's flock is still overwhelmingly Merino. The country produces about 345 million kilos of wool a year and exports about 98% of it, mostly to China, and Woolmark says Australia grows 81% of the world's superfine wool. That fine Merino wool is what goes into our Merino wool bedding and our medical wool pads.
How is wool processed?
Wool is processed in four broad stages: the fleece is shorn and sorted on the farm, washed (scoured) to remove grease and dirt, combed or carded into a rope of aligned fibers, and spun into yarn that is then knitted, woven or felted into fabric. Mills use one of two systems, worsted or woollen, and the system decides how smooth the final yarn is (Woolmark, how wool is made).
Wool processing steps: from shearing to yarn
- Shearing. Most sheep in Australia are shorn once a year. An experienced shearer removes the fleece in one piece in two to five minutes.
- Skirting and classing. The fleece is thrown onto a slatted wool table, and the poorer edges (pieces, bellies and short locks) are skirted off. A wool classer then sorts the fleeces into lines by type, fineness, length, style and faults, and the wool is pressed into bales for sale (FAO glossary of fibre harvesting).
- Scouring. Raw or "greasy" wool is around 35% to 40% contaminants by weight: wool grease (lanolin), dried sweat (suint), dirt and plant matter. It is washed through six to eight bowls of warm water and detergent, rinsed and dried (Woolmark, scouring).
- Carbonizing (woollen system). When the wool holds a lot of burrs and seeds, an acid treatment breaks the plant matter down.
- Carding. Rollers covered in fine wire teeth open up and untangle the fibers and lay them into a soft rope called a sliver.
- Gilling and combing (worsted system). The sliver is straightened, then combed to remove short fibers (noils), knots and remaining plant matter. The clean, parallel rope that results is called "top."
- Drawing and spinning. Top is drawn out into a thinner roving, then twisted into yarn. In worsted spinning the roving is stretched 20 to 30 times; woollen strips get only a slight stretch.
- Making the fabric. Yarn is woven on a loom (warp and weft), knitted by hand or machine, or skipped altogether in felting, where loose fibers are matted together.
- Dyeing and finishing. Wool can be dyed as loose fiber, yarn, fabric or a finished garment. Finishing (washing the fabric, removing loose surface fibers and pressing it flat) sets its feel and keeps it stable in size (Woolmark, finishing).
You can see a stage of this process in our Footcare Lambswool: Merino wool that has been shorn, cleaned, combed and carded into a thick rope, then left unspun so it can be pulled apart to cushion toes (more in lambs wool for feet). Hand spinners who scour their own fleeces use a grease-dispersing wash such as WoolScour, which removes the heavy lanolin in newly shorn wool and also suits alpaca and mohair.
Worsted vs woollen: what's the difference?
Worsted wool is made from long, combed fibers into a smooth, fine yarn; woollen wool is made from shorter, carded fibers into a softer, fuzzier yarn.
| Worsted | Woollen | |
|---|---|---|
| Fibers used | Longest, most uniform fibers | Shorter, more varied fibers |
| Key steps | Scour, card, gill, comb into top, draw, spin | Scour (and carbonize), card into strips, spin |
| Yarn | Smooth, fine, strong | Hairier, bulkier, softer |
| Typical uses | Suits, tailoring, fine knitwear | Tweeds, blankets, heavier sweaters, felts |
Types of wool
Types of wool are sorted in three ways: by the animal (and sheep breed) the fiber comes from, by how fine the fiber is, and by how it has been used before.
Wool by animal and breed
| Type | Comes from | What it is like |
|---|---|---|
| Merino wool | Merino sheep, mostly Australian | Fine and soft, generally under 22 microns; the main wool for next-to-skin clothing and bedding |
| Lambswool | The first shearing of a young sheep | Soft, short and fine |
| Crossbred wool | Crossbred and dual-purpose (meat and wool) sheep | Medium to coarse, strong; used for furnishings and carpets |
| Cashmere | Cashmere goats, mainly in Mongolia and China | Very soft; one goat gives only about 0.2 to 0.3 kg of down a year, against about 4.5 kg of fleece from one sheep |
| Mohair | Angora goats | A specialty fiber, sold under its own name |
| Alpaca | Alpacas, South American camelids | A specialty fiber, sold under its own name |
| Angora | Angora rabbits | A specialty fiber, sold under its own name |
Sources: Woolmark, what is Merino wool; Merriam-Webster, lamb's wool. Note that "lambswool" is also used loosely for any soft sheep's wool pile: our Merino Lambswool Wrap Booties and the Pressure Smart XD1900 Overlay, which knits 1,900 grams of Merino lambswool per square meter into a backing, use the word that way.
Wool by fineness
Woolmark groups wool into three categories by fiber diameter, measured in microns (one millionth of a meter):
- Fine wool: from Merino sheep; soft fabrics and knitting yarns. Fibers below about 19.5 microns are prized next to the skin.
- Medium wool: from Merino or crossbred sheep; used in woven clothing, knitting yarns and furnishings.
- Broad wool: from dual-purpose breeds; strong and durable, suited to carpets and rugs.
Fineness also decides how wool feels: coarse fibers are the ones that prickle. See is merino wool hypoallergenic? for what the research says about wool and itch.
Virgin wool, new wool and recycled wool
Under the US Wool Products Labeling Act, "virgin" or "new" wool means wool that has never been used, reclaimed or reprocessed from an earlier product. Recycled (reprocessed or reused) wool is allowed but must be disclosed on the label. Our Hospital Wool Fleece Bed Pad, for example, is made from 100% pure new Merino wool.
Why has wool lasted so long?
Wool has lasted because it does several jobs at once: it insulates, absorbs moisture vapor and still feels dry, stretches and recovers, resists odor and resists flame, and the sheep grows a renewable new fleece every year (see what makes wool special). The same properties put wool and sheepskin under people who spend long hours in bed or a chair; compare types of sheepskin and sheepskin vs wool, or read about sleeping on wool.
Wool history and processing FAQs
When was wool first used for clothing?
No one knows the exact date, but it was long after sheep were first domesticated more than 11,000 years ago, because the earliest domestic sheep were hairy. Woolly sheep were bred several thousand years later, and Woolmark notes that wool has been used in clothing "for millennia."
Where does Merino wool come from originally?
Merino sheep were bred in Spain, where the Royal Merino flocks were famous for fine wool. Merinos reached Australia in 1797, and Australian breeders refined them into today's Australian Merino.
How is wool made into fabric?
Wool becomes fabric when the spun yarn is woven on a loom or knitted. Felt is the exception: loose wool fibers are matted together with moisture, heat and agitation without spinning.
What is the difference between wool and lambswool?
Lambswool is wool from a young sheep's first shearing, so it is shorter, finer and softer than wool from an adult sheep. All lambswool is wool, but not all wool is lambswool.
What is the best type of wool?
For softness next to the skin, fine Merino wool is the usual choice; for hard-wearing carpets and rugs, strong broad wool is better. "Best" depends on the job.
The short version
Wool's history starts with the domestication of sheep more than 11,000 years ago and with herders who bred them for fleece; it shaped medieval England's economy and, after 1797, Australia's. Wool processing still follows the same path, only faster: shear, skirt and class, scour, card or comb, spin, then weave, knit or felt. And the main types of wool differ by animal (Merino, lambswool, crossbred, cashmere, mohair, alpaca, angora), by fineness and by whether the wool is new or recycled. To see what Australian Merino wool can do in the bedroom, browse our wool bedding, or ask us; we have been working with wool since 1988.
