Although from a distance the finish may look good, up-close this isn’t the case as you are often left with many roller marks in the paint. See the next page for some more original lambswool recipes and some information on the practice of wassailing. Along with choosing the right size and material type of roller for the job you are doing, it’s also essential that you choose a sleeve with the correct length of pile or nap as it’s also known.

It is this combination of the very best raw material and the specialist know-how in the preparation and treatment processes which ensures that the resulting 100% superfine merino wool is an unmatched market leader.

For example, you’ll get a better finish on a smooth flat surface when using a short pile roller sleeve, but you’ll end up with a rough, patchy finish if you use the same type of sleeve on a very rough surface. The apple and light froth will float to the surface, and depending on how much you have whisked it, the more it looks like lamb’s wool. It’s referred to as an ‘intimate blend’ when the individual characteristics are lost to the combination, like a jumper from an intimate blend with 20% nylon is likely to lack some of the properties of a 100% woolen jumper, like warmth, moisture wicking, etc. The pile, or nap of a paint roller can be made of materials from 2 different sources that are either wool/natural fibres or man made fibre.

The various breeds come in different shapes and sizes, and live in different countries and climates, that along with age, health, and diet affect the quality of their fleece.

Durham is a county in the north-east region of England, and these are a collection of local and regional recipes handed down within families who have lived and worked in the Durham area. As they are quite small, the paint pad it ideal for cutting in and getting into spaces that a standard roller would never reach. Native to Kashmir province in India, they are raised today all over Central Asia (Turkestan, Iran, Iraq, Mongolia), China, Australia, and New Zealand.

Like other sheep’s wools, merino needs scouring prior to being spun to yarn which is an energy and time-consuming process involving washing and rinsing the wool.Angora goats are farmed similarly to sheep, but at a much smaller scale, which might be why mohair is slightly more expensive than wool. We only use five colours in our work, two of which have been specially dyed for us by Zegna Baruffa Lane Borgesesia SpA to replicate the natural colours so familiar in Shetland's textile heritage.

Although not exactly a paint roller, they do kind of work in a similar way hence the reason we are mentioning them. Radiator Roller: The radiator roller frame, as you can see in the image is essentially and extended mini roller with a much longer handle. Like hair from goats and rabbits, it needs less preparatory steps compared to wool, and the hair from Alpaca hair is a natural hypoallergenic, arguably making it superior to cashmere. The scouring process is unique to wool, as hair from goats, alpacas, or rabbits doesn’t contain lanolin.

Wool and hair are both graded on their properties such as strength, staple length (length of the fiber), and fineness (diameter measured in microns), as well as consistency and defects. whereas Hair is sourced from other animals such as goats (cashmere, mohair), alpacas (alpaca) and rabbits (angora).