<P> Wool straight off a sheep, known as "greasy wool" or "wool in the grease", contains a high level of valuable lanolin, as well as the sheep's dead skin and sweat residue, and generally also contains pesticides and vegetable matter from the animal's environment . Before the wool can be used for commercial purposes, it must be scoured, a process of cleaning the greasy wool . Scouring may be as simple as a bath in warm water or as complicated as an industrial process using detergent and alkali in specialized equipment . In north west England, special potash pits were constructed to produce potash used in the manufacture of a soft soap for scouring locally produced white wool . </P> <P> In commercial wool, vegetable matter is often removed by chemical carbonization . In less - processed wools, vegetable matter may be removed by hand and some of the lanolin left intact through the use of gentler detergents . This semigrease wool can be worked into yarn and knitted into particularly water - resistant mittens or sweaters, such as those of the Aran Island fishermen . Lanolin removed from wool is widely used in cosmetic products such as hand creams . </P> <P> Raw wool has many impurities; vegetable matter, sand, dirt and yolk which is a mixture of suint (sweat), grease, urine stains and dung locks . The sheep's body yields many types of wool with differing strengths, thicknesses, length of staple and impurities . The raw wool (greasy) is processed into' top' .' Worsted top' requires strong straight and parallel fibres . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Th> Common Name </Th> <Th> Part of Sheep </Th> <Th> Style of Wool </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Fine </Td> <Td> Shoulder </Td> <Td> Fine uniform and very dense </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Near </Td> <Td> Sides </Td> <Td> Fine uniform and strong </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Downrights </Td> <Td> Neck </Td> <Td> Short and irregular, lower quality </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Choice </Td> <Td> Back </Td> <Td> Shorter staple, open and less strong </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Abb </Td> <Td> Haunches </Td> <Td> Longer, stronger large staples </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Seconds </Td> <Td> Belly </Td> <Td> Short, tender, Matted and dirty </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Top - not </Td> <Td> Head </Td> <Td> Stiff, very coarse, rough and kempy </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Brokes </Td> <Td> Forelegs </Td> <Td> Short irregular and faulty </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Cowtail </Td> <Td> Hindlegs </Td> <Td> Very strong, coarse and hairy </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Britch </Td> <Td> Tail </Td> <Td> Very coarse, kempy and dirty </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> </Tr> </Table>

Where does wool come from and how is it made