Unwanted wool fiber
Kemp is a coarse, brittle fiber found in wool, particularly from primitive sheep breeds.
These straight, wiry hairs lack the crimp and softness of true wool fibers, making them undesirable in fine textiles: The fleece had too much kemp to fetch a good price.
Kemp doesn't take dye well, leaving white streaks in finished fabric.
Thick, rough strands
IDEA.org / Words / kemp
Unwanted wool fiber
Kemp is a coarse, brittle fiber found in wool, particularly from primitive sheep breeds.
These straight, wiry hairs lack the crimp and softness of true wool fibers, making them undesirable in fine textiles: The fleece had too much kemp to fetch a good price.
Kemp doesn't take dye well, leaving white streaks in finished fabric.
1. fiber — coarse hair, Thick, rough strands; bristle (Coarse animal hair); fleece (Wool still on sheep); strand (Thin fiber piece); filament · hairy · shedding · undercoat
2. textile — grading, Assigning marks to work; sorting (Arranging into sequence); carding (Preparing fibers for spinning); spinning (Revolving around an axis); luster · prickle · itchiness · worsted · woolen · sheep shearing
3. sheep — merino, Fine-fleeced sheep breed; crossbred (Mixed genetic heritage); ewe (Female ovine); ram (Adult male sheep); breeding · genetics · coat · pelt · shearing · flock · pastoral · animal fiber
wool fiber qualitykemp ≠ fine wool High-grade sheep fiber; merino · undercoat · cashmere · superfine
unkempt, kempt, unkemptness
Word data: Linguabase (CC0) · www.idea.org/words/kemp