Just exactly what is it? Wiki tells me that it’s wool that hasn’t been spun before, but I have no idea what that means.
The reason I’m asking is that I just bought an Army surplus blanket with 70% “Virgin Wool”. Now, I was in the Army for three years and the blankets were very warm, but I’m curious to know if it was virgin wool or something else.
Any help would be appreciated.
70% virgin and 30% “camp follower”
Marriam-Webster.com says the same:
Main Entry: virgin wool
Function: noun
: wool not used before in manufacture
So it’s what they aren’t saying that makes the difference.
30% has been used before. This is almost always “pre-consumer” recycling.
A virgin wool bolt of cloth will be made out of newly shorn and spun wool. Then a lot of baby blankets and jammies will be cut from it and some odd shaped pieces will be left over.
These are shredded and tossed into a new batch of virgin wool to dilute it for cheaper cloth.
Virgin wool is usually softer, having all long sheep hairs. The non-virgin stuff is rough, since it is cut smaller and there are a lot more ends sticking out per square inch.
It’s made from ugly sheep. 
(someone had to say it)
Not ugly, just faster than Hal.
You’re right , someone had to say it. 