Sheep Co-Operative Research Centre Will Be Licensed and Sold by The AWTA

The wool comfort and handle meters have been developed by the Sheep Co-operative Research Centre over several years and were commercially launched on Friday. They will be licensed and sold by the Australian Wool Testing Authority.

David Tester, the wool program leader with the Sheep CRC, says there's strong interest in the instruments in international markets.

"We do have companies overseas that are waiting for this day to be able to put an order in to AWTA," Mr Tester said.

"I'd be hopeful that within the next week or so we will see orders coming in for machines.

"The one that is definitely going to be the first to order, they do the knitting and the garment making and they also are an online retailer."

The comfort meter works by running a string over wool to count the short, stiff fibres that stick out and create prickle. It gives the fabric a number rating that indicates how comfortable it will be for a wearer.

Mr Tester says fine woolgrowers will see the benefit of industry adopting the meters.

"The aim, right from the very beginning, was to try and increase the demand for fine Australian wool and I believe it will happen, and one of the reasons is wool is an ideal fibre for 'next-to-skin' applications.

"It suffers from this perception that it is prickly, especially in our big markets such as the US and even, to a lesser extent, Japan.

"If we can overcome that impediment, so that the garments that are going out there aren't prickly and people can promote that, then I believe we will, we will build demand for wools of, say, 18 micron and finer in that very upper echelon of 'next-to-skin' products."