First fiber testing facility on East Coast helps farmers unlock wool’s hidden potential
On a crisp October weekend in 2024, Clyde Carpenter took his lab on the road. At the annual New York State Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck, New York, he met with farmers raising all kinds of sheep. Carpenter took samples of their wool and fur and tested their fibers on the spot.
His mission: Collect data showing the micron measurement, or thickness, of the various fibers, providing key information for using wool in consumer products from fashionable sweaters and cozy socks to home furnishings.
And that can be a game changer for New York State’s farming industry.
“A lot of sheep farmers in New York State breed sheep primarily for meat,” Carpenter said. “The wool is shorn off and right now these farmers don’t have much of an outlet for the wool. Many just throw it away, and they’re losing out on a side stream of money that could potentially benefit their farm. What we’re working on with wool testing is helping the sheep farmers understand what kind of wool they have and get a feel for new end-uses for it.”
His research is part of the NY Fashion Innovation Center, a consortium created in 2023 through a grant from Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR), and led by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. Its mission is to connect researchers, farmers, designers and manufacturers to accelerate innovative solutions using natural fibers as New York becomes a leader in sustainable textiles.
“Our purpose is to advance sustainable fashion in New York,” said Ken Simons, director of the Fashion Innovation Center. “We’ve been taking a natural fibers approach because there’s already a substantial industry around wool and animal fibers in the state. It includes everything from the farms to the entire supply chain including spinning, weaving and knitting through clothing manufacturing to retail. We’re trying to help make that practical in New York.”
Wool fiber testing is one way the center is addressing the practical ways in which New York can strengthen its sustainable fiber economy. In addition to sheep’s wool, the center expects to be able to test other types of animal hair, such as goat, rabbit, and yak, in the future.
Currently, there are only two other labs in the United States where farmers can send their wool for testing: Texas A&M and Montana State University. Until the Fashion Innovation Center came online, there was no place on the East Coast for farmers to test their wool. Without easy accessibility, there’s no practical way for most New York farmers to know the current quality of their wool or the ways in which they can adjust their practices to alter its properties for better end-use commercialization.
Super fine wool can be used for products that are in contact with a person’s skin, like socks, sweaters, hats, and gloves. Coarser wool is well-suited for home goods, like carpets or the backing for a chair. Super coarse wool can be put through a pelletizing machine to make a form of natural fertilizer.
Once farmers know what type of wool they have, they can begin to find outlets to sell it, both supplementing their income and helping New York textile businesses locally source their fibers. Farmers can even take that data and implement new practices to change the quality of the wool their sheep—or other animals—produce.
“There are different factors that go into the wool quality,” said Carpenter, laboratory manager at the Fashion Innovation Center. “It’s the food you’re feeding them, how you’re feeding them, and how old they are. Farmers may introduce a new diet or keep them away from stressful situations. I spoke to one farmer who had tested their wool at a different lab, and you can see on a graph, over time, changes in the wool fineness. There was a drop at one point in the fineness, and they were able to tell that this was because the sheep had been close to a firework show around New Year’s. The firework show stressed them out, and it completely changed that wool that season.”
Along with bringing fiber testing to New York’s farmers, the Fashion Innovation Center is in the process of awarding its first round of grants supporting startups, small businesses, farmers, researchers and individuals working on the development of textile fiber-related products and technologies in the state. Along with up to $10,000 in funding, awardees will receive mentoring from experts in their industries and have access to equipment, facilities, and other resources to advance their projects. The center plans to open its second round in early 2025.
For more information on the New York Fashion Innovation Center, visit nyfic.org.