Prato Recycled Carded Wool

What we want to share with you is the journey of a bale of rags that has been repeating for about 200 years—a journey where industry is craftsmanship, where the scent of rags blends with people’s passion, where waste becomes a resource and refuse becomes an opportunity. This is the journey into the world of Prato recycled cardato.

Indice contenuto

1. Passatura: Rag sorters, first processing step
2. Dry shredding Wet shredding (Garnetting)
3. Dyeing: Fiber ennobling
4. Beating machine
5. Preparazione della mista (mescolo) e Filatura cardata
6. Yarn manufacturing
7. Warping
8. Weaving
9. Finishing
10. Yarn manufacturing
10. Wool mill
Conclusion

1. Passatura: Rag sorters, first processing step

The first step, where used garments and rags are sorted by the skilled hands of the rag sorters. Sight, touch, tearing, and—where these gestures are not enough—even the flame of a lighter are the fundamental techniques used to recognize, select, and divide the rags. The first and second choices, the most intact garments, will be destined for reuse, proudly displayed in flea markets around the world. The other rags, divided according to composition and color, will follow their own path to textile regeneration, feeding the Prato recycled cardato supply chain, or to the production of wadding, felts, and insulation, destined for the most diverse applications in geotextiles and automotive.

The rags, both pre- and post-consumer, come from separate waste collection, garment scraps and cuttings, and textile processes around the world, such as spinning and weaving waste, arriving here in Prato for the textile recycling process to become new products of Prato recycled cardato. And so once again, the rag sorters select them, choose them, and divide them, preparing the material according to type, composition, fineness, and color, finally ready to be shredded and transformed from rag into recycled wool flocks.

2. Dry shredding Wet shredding (Garnetting)

The people of Prato have always been resourceful in the treatment of rags, studying and creating different shredding processes to transform materials with varying characteristics. The garnet is used for compact materials that are difficult to open into flocks and require strong carding to become homogeneous and spinnable. Dry shredding is used for wool knitwear and blends with soft, long fibers that do not require water. Instead, wet shredding is used for short and/or hard fibers, as well as for yarns and combed fabric cuttings.

Wet rag shredding remains a typically Prato process, unique in the world, designed to recycle materials such as carded and combed cuttings that need the swelling action of water to avoid damaging the fibers, restoring them into regenerated flock and making them spinnable again. Once, wet shredding workshops were scattered along the Bisenzio valley, with fulling mills and water mills harnessing water both as a driving force and as an aid to the machines’ action.

Today, the water used in the process comes from industrial purification plants and is recycled water. The material is cut and mechanically opened into flocks—hence the entirely Prato-born name of “mechanical wool.”

3. Dyeing: Fiber ennobling

All recycled textile products, whether pre- or post-consumer—that is, textile waste or used garments—are sorted into various color shades, thus avoiding dyeing processes for their reuse. This important procedure not only avoids additional costs but also saves water and reduces the use of chemicals and dyes.

Material obtained from patterned fabrics and composed of multiple colors, which are difficult to classify, is instead selected and grouped into a specific multicolored batch that the people of Prato call “rossino.” Rossino is the only material that, if not commonly used as a multicolor in its natural state, undergoes a dyeing process in order to be reintegrated into the regeneration process.

4. Beating machine

The function of the Beating machine is to open and separate the fibers to prepare blends destined for actual spinning, used in the case of heterogeneous and difficult-to-assemble materials. This step is essential for mixing materials that are otherwise hard to combine or heavily soiled with dust and plant matter, making them more homogeneous while at the same time removing dirt, impurities, and the shortest fibers.

5. Preparazione della mista (mescolo) e Filatura cardata

The preparation and selection of materials for the blend, called *mista* in Prato, is an operation of pure artistry, built on experience passed down from generation to generation. Different recycled materials are skillfully mixed in precise percentages for quality and color, reaching the composition, quality, and shade required.

Sampling is carried out using the “cardina”, a small reproduction of the carding process, which produces a small felt swatch that replicates the yarn to be made. The *feltrinista* is the expert who, based on experience and deep knowledge of the materials to be used, manages to assemble the right components—often very different ones—to obtain wool and wool-blend yarns and fabrics according to market demands.

Once the blend is composed, it moves on to spinning.

The spinning process has three main preparation phases: opening the bales with the bale opener; the “lupa”; and the beating machine.
The fibers in the blend are made homogeneous and then passed into rooms where oiling takes place—an operation of fundamental importance because it facilitates their sliding, reducing friction both between the fibers themselves and with the metallic clothing that covers the cylinders of the machines. From the rooms or boxes where the material is stored, it is taken either by milling cutters or pneumatically, then carried by a conveyor belt equipped with spikes, tilted just over 90°, and delivered to the carding machines.

Carding

Carding consists of a series of three steps carried out on machines equipped with rollers of various diameters, covered with metallic teeth that, by opening and separating the fibers, align them in parallel into a homogeneous web, forming a batt of varying thickness. At the end of these steps, the material is cut into small strips, creating with a false twist the roving, which still does not have the optimal consistency to be used. For this reason, the roving is transferred to the spinning frames, also called self-acting machines, which through drafting and twisting consolidate the yarn’s structure, making it elastic and resistant. The count of a yarn is the numerical factor used to express its fineness and represents the ratio between its length and its weight.

Winding

The winding operation consists of transferring the yarn from its initial package, usually a small bobbin, to a larger package called a cone, which is more suitable for subsequent processing. During this operation—which also includes an automatic knotting system to join the lengths of yarn coming from multiple bobbins—imperfections in the yarn are also eliminated thanks to the “stribbie.” The stribbiatura operation consists of passing the yarn through an electronic device that, with a mechanical system, detects any thickness defects in the yarn, removes them, and thus makes the material more homogeneous.

Oiling

This operation serves to lubricate the yarn, minimizing the coefficient of friction with the components it most frequently comes into contact with. It is mainly used for knitting yarns. Twisting is a step carried out to combine two or more yarn strands by applying rotation along their axis, thus creating a thicker yarn composed of multiple plies.

6. Yarn manufacturing

The companies that produce yarns, whether destined for needlework, knitwear, or fabric production, play a fundamental role in the textile production chain by providing products of the highest quality. These companies can vary widely in size and production capacity, but all play a crucial role in the textile industry, contributing to the creation of the base materials for a wide range of textile products.

7. Warping

Warping is the first step in creating a fabric, whether carried out internally by the wool mills or commissioned to subcontractors. It serves to create the base on which the threads will be interwoven to bring the fabric to life. The threads, coming from a creel where the cones are placed, are wound onto a truncated conical reel, aligning several sections of yarn in parallel that together will make up the total number of threads needed to produce the fabric. At this point, all the threads are transferred onto a metal beam, which, once mounted on the loom, will give rise to the actual fabric.

8. Weaving

The warp beam coming from the warping process is ready to be woven on the loom. The beam is placed on the loom, and once prepared—by passing each individual thread through a series of metal heddles fixed to their respective harnesses—it is ready to be woven according to precise technical and stylistic requirements. The loom, depending on the weave structure chosen for the interlacing, raises and lowers the individual harnesses, opening the warp threads and allowing the weft to pass through, which is then beaten into place by a specific reed. Weft after weft, beat after beat, the fabric finally takes shape. The loom is a play of mechanical thread interlacings, combined with the passion and skill of people who design on paper what the machine will weave—like an orchestra composed of many instruments creating a melody, the crossing of endless possibilities of colors, designs, and weaves that bring the fabric to life.

9. Finishing

The first phase: In the processing of carded fabric, this is scouring and fulling. Fulling is a characteristic operation in the finishing process of wool fabrics, consisting of compacting the fabric through felting, making it dense and ready for subsequent processing. This step also allows the final weight of the fabric to be defined.

The second phase: Drying. The fabric is usually dried in a tenter frame, which not only dries the fabric but also stabilizes its dimensions to the desired width. Depending on requirements, the fabric may undergo a superficial raising process, which lifts the fibers on the surface to make it softer and fluffier.

The third phase: Shearing. This stage trims and evens out the height of the previously raised fibers, giving the fabric a more uniform and clean appearance.

The fourth phase: The final treatment of the fabric can vary: for example, cloth is usually produced with a final step of decatizing in an autoclave (which makes the fabric shrink-proof and more compact), or velour, which through steaming causes the previously raised fibers to swell, giving the fabric its characteristic finish.

10. Yarn manufacturing

The companies that produce yarns, whether destined for needlework, knitwear, or fabric production, play a fundamental role in the textile production chain by providing products of the highest quality. In recent years, the production of yarns by wool mills has greatly decreased, as—due to logistical, production, and financial issues—they have preferred to collaborate with yarn manufacturers. Using weaving and knitwear yarns made from recycled carded fibers produced by yarn manufacturers within the Prato supply chain. These companies can vary widely in size and production capacity, but all play a crucial role in the textile industry, contributing to the creation of the base materials for a wide range of textile products.

10. Wool mill

The Wool mill or Textile manufacturer is the pinnacle of the supply chain—the client of all upstream processes and the purchaser of recycled wools or yarns. It designs fabrics, selects raw materials, techniques, and finishing processes for fabric production. It relies on the best textile technicians trained at our Buzzi institute, who constantly design and study new fabrics with extensive use of recycled materials. Thus, it brings Prato recycled cardato around the world, attending major international textile trade fairs, presenting, promoting, and selling fabrics to clients worldwide.

Conclusion

Prato Recycled Cardato embodies the magic of textile art that has passed through entire generations of producers. Their commitment to sustainability and the art of transforming old fabrics into new textile creations reflects a deep connection to tradition and a vision toward a more sustainable future. In a rapidly changing world, this way of working with love and respect for the environment reminds us of the importance of honoring the past while looking with hope toward tomorrow. Prato Recycled Cardato is a solemn example of how craftsmanship, dedication, and environmental responsibility can intertwine in a harmonious symphony, bringing with it not only fine wool fabrics but also a profound respect for the roots of the textile craft.