How woollen blankets are made
A woollen blanket is woven on a loom, usually with a cotton or synthetic warp and a thick, loosely spun woollen weft. After weaving it is washed and milled so the fibres lock together, then raised: wire-covered rollers pull fibre ends out of the surface to form the soft nap. It is cut to size and the edges are finished with blanket stitch (whipstitch), a satin or polyester binding, or a fringe.
Recycled wool blankets use fibre recovered from knitwear and fabric by pulling it back to a loose state, then re-spinning it, often with virgin wool or synthetics added for strength. The colour comes partly from the sorted waste, so shade lots vary more than in dyed new wool. US rules require recycled wool to be named as such on the label; EU rules bar it from being called virgin or fleece wool.
Panipat is listed by DGFT as a Town of Export Excellence for woollen blanket, as well as for carpets, other floor coverings and bed linen. See inspection in Panipat.
What we check on woollen blankets
| Check | How it is checked | What fails |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | Each sampled blanket weighed on a calibrated scale; weight per square metre worked out | Below the specified weight or minimum tolerance |
| Size and squareness | Length, width and both diagonals after the blanket has relaxed flat | Short, narrow, or out of square |
| Nap and raising | Surface checked across the full blanket under side light | Bald patches, streaks, over-raised thin areas that show the weave |
| Shedding and pilling | Blanket shaken over a dark sheet; surface rubbed with a hand | Heavy loose fibre, pills forming on light rubbing |
| Edge finish | Binding and blanket stitch checked along all four edges, especially corners | Skipped stitches, binding off the edge, puckered or wavy edges |
| Weave faults | Blanket held to light | Thin places, missing picks, holes, knots |
| Shade | Blankets of one colour compared side by side and with the approved sample | Lot-to-lot variation beyond the agreed band |
| Moth and stains | Folds and edges checked for holes, larvae and marks | Moth holes, oil or rust stains from the loom |
| Labels | Fibre, origin and identity label read against the order | "Wool" on a recycled or blended blanket, missing percentages |
For lab confirmation of wool and recycled content, we pull and seal samples through lab testing coordination.
Common woollen and recycled-wool blanket defects and how they are classed
| Defect | Typical cause | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Broken needle in the binding | No needle control at the stitching table | Critical |
| Short weight | Lighter weft, over-raising, wrong count | Major |
| Fibre content not as labelled | More synthetic or recycled fibre than declared | Major |
| Moth damage | Long storage without protection | Major |
| Binding coming off | Binding not caught in the stitch along the full edge | Major |
| Heavy shedding | Short recycled fibres, over-raising | Major or minor against the approved sample |
| Uneven nap | Raising rollers worn or set unevenly | Minor |
Labels and rules for wool blankets
- US Wool Act. Blankets containing wool are wool products under the Wool Products Labeling Act and 16 CFR 300. The label gives the percentage of wool and recycled wool, other fibres, country of origin and the seller's name or RN. Recycled wool is wool returned to a fibrous state after being woven, knitted or felted into a wool product.
- US care labels. The Care Labeling Rule covers apparel and piece goods, not blankets, though many buyers ask for one.
- EU and UK. Regulation 1007/2011 fibre names and percentages. "Virgin wool" or "fleece wool" can only be used for wool never before used in a finished product, so it cannot appear on a recycled-wool blanket. See EU textile labelling.
- Chemicals. Dyes, moth-proofing treatments and finishes can fall under REACH and the Biocidal Products Regulation. See EU REACH.
Packing, transit and your purchase order
Blankets are bulky, so they are often folded into PVC or polybags with a card insert, or vacuum-compressed to save container space. Compression saves freight but can flatten the nap and set hard creases, and a blanket packed damp can smell or grow mould by the time it arrives. The inspector checks dryness by hand and smell, compression level against the approved pack, bag seals, insert cards and carton marks, and whether any moth deterrent has been added.
- Size, weight per blanket and weight tolerance.
- Fibre composition, including recycled wool and the warp fibre.
- Edge finish: blanket stitch colour and spacing, or binding material and width.
- Shade band for recycled-wool colours.
- Shedding limit agreed against a reference blanket.
- Pack method: folded, bagged or compressed, and units per carton.
Quilted and cotton bedspreads are covered under quilts and bedspreads.