Tag: Camel Wool

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General about camel

Should we share camel’s wool?

Shearing camel wool for beauty
Shearing camel wool for beauty

Yes, it is a sign of good management to shear camels and to prevent mange and other skin diseases. Yes, it is hard work, but the camel pastoralists in different parts of the world, especially Great Thar Desert do it communally. Some cameleers shear their camel from a killer camel barber to make it attractive for ceremonies.

Is it easy and feasible?

The large herds and the semi-intensive camel farms (dairy) are a bit difficult at the moment. But I suggest to shear, especially the hump area. The calves must be sheared as they are very prone to ticks and hide in the hump and neck area hiding in the hair. If your camels are well trained and they know the commands of their human colleague, then it is good to sit the camel and shear the dense wool keeping them less susceptible to the tick’s infestation.

There are huge differences in wool quality depending on species, age, and body parts. Dromedary wool is difficult to use in clothing as it is short and scratchy. I think using part of it for mulching is a great idea.

Collection of camel hair is a painstaking task, from gathering the herd, and restraining the camels to shearing and collection and everything in between. This difficult process comes at a cost, and hence will only make economic sense if it’s used in an application that can absorb this high cost.

Does the camel wool shed naturally?

Yes, camel sheds its wool naturally. Camels shed their hair naturally Every year, without fail, between spring and summer. Usually, the camels manage their wool naturally but in semi-intensive care keeping camels in congested environments leads to problems, especially ticks and blood parasites, so shearing helps.

Beautification of camel fur

In Pakistan, especially Sindh and Punjab (The Great Thar desert and adjoining parts), the designs are made on camels. Some days are very important like Eid-ul-Azha) for such activities. The camel barber charges about 15 USD for one camel.

https://arkbiodiv.com/2012/06/01/camel-hair-cut-and-art-competition

Importance of camel’s fur

The camel wool is an important product. Among the Old-world camels, the dromedary has mostly coarse wool (tent & rope and Bisht wool), except the camels in very cold areas (having more fine wool, especially the calves). Tent & rope and Bisht wool meaning, the wool is mainly used for making tents, ropes, and Bisht (mostly by nomadic people).

The Importance and Uses of Camel Wool

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Camel Products

Properties of Camel Wool

The washed and clean camel wool
The washed and clean camel wool

Does the color drain from camel fleece?

Does water cause camel wool to bleed? Does it change color in the water to its native state? In an attempt to wash the camel wool, I put it in a pail with hot water and noticed an odd thing happened: the water turned the same dark brown hue as the Majaheem camel’s wool. The wool has been tightly woven into a blanket that is difficult to separate or arrange. Kindly share your thoughts with me. Crude camel hair contained 15 – 35% sand and dust. It appears the color of the water after the camel hair was drenched may exceptionally well be credited to this dust. I did a test too, earlier this year. And I can confirm what has been mentioned here: no color, mostly dirty water, and little to no lanolin.

The structure of the camel wool

The outer layer of the fingernail skin contains color granules that are dispersed within the medulla, the central area of the fleece fiber (same as in camel fur). More color granules have accumulated in the fiber’s core the darker the hair. Each strand of camel hair, known as the cortex, has some water porosity, yet a camel is kept dry by its resistance to water. My argument is that this water-resistant outer cortex would need to be penetrated if the common camel hair color were to drain.

Camel Wool is Hard to be Carded and Clean Properly

It is exceedingly difficult to thoroughly clean wool. There is a thin layer of cuticles covering every wool strand. Each fiber’s cuticle layer becomes entangled with one another. With the right instruments and equipment, the majority of it can be carded and brushed. However, when the wool has “felted” it is very difficult to do so.

Camel Wool Grease

How fat is camel wool? Sheep wool has a lot of lanolin, which gives the wool its special properties. I have read that camel wool has low amounts of fat, but perhaps this is not correct.  it’s correct, camelwool contains very little part of lanolin.

Categories
General about camel

The Importance and Uses of Camel Wool

Bisht made of dromedary camel wool
Bisht made of dromedary camel wool

Camel’s types and wool

A. Taxonomically, the camelids are divided into 2 genera

  1. Lama and sp. as (L. pacos, L. glama)
  2. Camelus and sp. as (C. dromedarius, C. bactrianus, C. ferus). The ferus is wild

B. We can divide camels into 2 main categories (based on their fiber quality and purposes of production)

  1. Old-World Camelids (Arabian camel and Bactrian camel): Mainly for work, riding, sport, milk, meat, skin, and fiber. The wool is coarse
  2. New-world camelids (Llama and Alpaca): Meat, wool, work etc. The wool is fine

The Old-worlds Camels’ Wool

Among the Old-world camels, the dromedary has mostly coarse wool (tent & rope and Bisht wool), except the camels in very cold areas (having more fine wool, especially the calves). Tent & rope and Bisht wool meaning, the wool is mainly used for making tents, ropes, and Bisht (mostly by nomadic people).

In this article, my main focus is the Dromedary wool. The main use is making the tents and ropes by the Beduins communities as the camel wool is very strong and doen’t absorb moist, so remain ligheter in weith. Bisht is made from camel wool that is spun and woven into a breathable fabric.

Both Bishts are made from the camel wool. The Bishts were gifted to us by Saudi givernement in King Abdulaziz camel festival in Rimah Riyadh.

The Bactrian Camel Wool

The Bactrian camel wool is also categorized as fine wool, especially their calves’ wool is tremendously fine. Mongolia is leading in the Bactrian camel wool business and many fabrics are crafted by camel wool. You can read about the important features of the Bactrian camel wool in the following link.

Bactrian Camel Wool Production

Fabric made of the Bactrian camel wool in Mongolia

The Dromedary Camel Wool

In the dromedary camel in its original habitat (Arabia, Saharan, and Sub-Saharan Africa, Horn of Africa, South Asia, Persia, and Central Asia) sheds its wool naturally at the start of the summer season as the wool grows faster in winter and making a densely woven blanket that is difficult to separate or sort out.

As camels have protective outer coats of coarse fiber (grow up to 15 inches). The fine, shorter fiber of the insulating undercoat (grow up to 1.5–5 inches), is the product generally called camel hair, or camel hair wool, making a dense fur to minimize moisture evaporation from camel body and protecting from the cold waves in winter.

Camel wool is densely mangeled, resulting in a coarse fur that is difficult to separate
Camel wool is densely mangeled, resulting in a coarse fur that is difficult to separate

Camel hair beautification and dressing

 Different tribes of camel keepers have different cultures related with camels in many different and unique places of the world. Camels’ innate beauty is accentuated in the Indian subcontinent by cutting their hair. The camel’s hair is styled to resemble a stunning work of art on its body. Some camel societies have a tradition of clipping contests wherein skilled weavers create exquisite artwork using the wool of the live camel. In the Great Thar Desert (India and Pakistan), these kinds of civilizations are quite alive. Art of Camel Hair Shearing~The Camels’ Attraction

Unique Idea of Camel Wool Consumption – A Mulching Agent

These days, with so many synthetic products made in China, camel wool’s use as a fabric (tent, rope, and Bisht) is low. In the early summer, a lot of camel wool is strewn out close to the camel farms. In the desert, the organically knitted woolen coat is seen tangled in various shrubs. The country is seeing an increase in tunnel farming, and the necessary organic materials, such as peat, are being imported from other places. This has led to another positive development known as the Modern Food Production Revolution. One of the most crucial steps in reducing water loss and shielding just germinated plants from pests and harsh weather is mulching. The finest material for mulching can be camel wool because it minimizes evapuration, conserves water for the plants, and naturally breaks down over time to give the plants nutrients due to its organic nature. NPK and other vital nutrients for plants are abundant in camel wool. It can shield plants from pests and take the place of synthetic fertilizer.

In order to achieve the best results, camel wool is utilized as a mulching agent in Alain, United Arab Emirates, as seen in the following photos.