The quantity of mohair which one man can sort varies considerably, according to the class of mohair which he is given to work upon. One mill estimated that experts can sort between two and three hundred pounds of domestic mohair a day, and that it costs about a cent a pound to thus separate the fleece. After the fleeces are graded, the mohair is ready to be sent to the mill proper for scouring and spinning.
To-day the process of washing or scouring the fleece is done by machinery. The mohair is fed into a machine in which revolve paddles, which thoroughly mix the fiber with the liquid in this machine. At the opposite end from where it was fed in, the mohair is rolled out over warm rollers, and it is ready to be spun. It is claimed, and with some justice, that American mohair loses or shrinks about 12% to 20% while passing through this washing machine, and that Turkish mohair only shrinks about 13%. This may be due to the fact that some of the Turkish hair had been washed before it was shipped to market, and that by previous sorting some of the dirt had fallen out of the mohair. Then, too, some of the American growers are not very careful to keep the fleeces clean. Straw, sticks, hats, and even stones have been found in some domestic stuff.
After the mohair is thoroughly cleaned it is ready for spinning or carding. In order to spin the fibers most economically, evenly and to the best advantage, some of the mills mix different qualities of mohair of about the same fineness. For instance, Turkish mohair is mixed with Texas and California stuff, or Oregon is mixed with Iowa material. The spinning qualities of mohair from different sections varies, and this mixing tends to give uniformity. After the fibers have been mixed to suit, the mohair is run through straightening machines in preparation for the combing process.
This comb is so arranged that about two and a half inches of the base of all of the mohair fibers, and any other fibers which may be mixed with them, are held, the ends of the fibers which are longer than two and a half inches, hang freely and are caught in a revolving machine and dragged loose from the combs which hold the base of the fiber. Thus only those fibers two and a half inches long, or less, are left in the first comb. The longer fibers, or tops as they are now called, to distinguish them from the noil, or short fibers, are collected and are again passed through a second comb.