• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • WordPress
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
Science Update

Science Update

Sharing Science | Satisfying Curiosity | Debunking BS

  • Spotlights
  • Reality Check
  • Why Is It?
  • Radio Archives
  • Sciup @ School
Home » Radio Archive » Daily Show » Washable Wool

Washable Wool

November 9, 2006
https://podcast.scienceupdate.com/061109_sciup_wash.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window

BOB HIRSHON (host):
Shrinkless sweaters. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.

That chill in the air means it’s time to dig up our musty old sweaters, which may be why listener Christie Rowe from Moss Landing, California, asked how some wools are made washable. We turned to wool researcher Jeanette Cardamone of the Agricultural Research Service.

JEANETTE CARDAMONE (Agricultural Research Service, US Department of Agriculture):
And it has to do with the structure of the wool fiber itself. The wool fiber has scales on its surface and it looks very much like shingles on a roof.

HIRSHON:
When normal wool is washed, these rough scales lock together and make the fibers shrink. But some chemical treatments, including one that Cardamone invented, can make the scales smooth and unable to lock together—meaning your sweater’s size is safe.

If you have a science question, submit it at scienceupdate.com. If we use it on the air, you’ll win a Science Update mug. I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.

Category: Daily ShowTag: Plants & Agriculture
Previous Post:Solar Flares and GPS
Next Post:Podcast

Sidebar

Radio Program Archives

Want to learn more about the brain? The environment? Here you can browse the topics that come up regularly on Science Update.

Search the Archives

Categories

  • Daily Show
  • Station Download
  • Weekly Show

Find By Tag

  • 2020
  • Acoustics & Sound
  • Aging
  • Animal Behavior
  • Anthropology
  • Archaeology
  • Astronomy & Space
  • Biology
  • Brain Science
  • Bugs
  • Chemistry
  • Children & Families
  • cicadas
  • Climate & Weather
  • Communications
  • Computer Science
  • Economics & Business
  • Education
  • Energy
  • Engineering & Technology
  • Environment & Conservation
  • Genetics & Evolution
  • Geology
  • Marine Science
  • Materials Science
  • Mathematics
  • Medicine & Health
  • Microbiology
  • Nanotechnology
  • Nutrition & Food Science
  • Paleontology & Dinosaurs
  • Physics
  • Plants & Agriculture
  • Political Science
  • Reality Check
  • Social & Behavioral Sciences
  • Sports & Fitness
  • spotlight
  • Spotlight Bugs
  • Terrorism & War
  • Why Is It? Questions
  • Wildlife
  • Year in Review

Find By Date

Science Update
  • About Science Update
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

Mayan Honeybee hives
House sparrow wearing top hat rides aboard a red fireworks rocket

Copyright © 2023 · Springtail Media LLC · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Pongos