DEVELOPMENTS which could considerably extend the use of British wool in carpets were presented to the UK carpet industry this week by the British Wool Marketing Board.

New technology, which can lighten naturally dark fibres; new British wool blends, and the creative use of wool from native breeds were all featured at the leading UK flooring trade show in Harrogate.

The board aims to encourage yarn spinners and carpet manufacturers to use more British wool. Because of its exceptional strength and resilience, it is estimated that probably about 70pc of the wool grown in Britain is used in carpets.

Since the introduction of lighter shades in home furnishings, however, the colour of some wools has limited its use. In particular, although traditionally a good carpet wool, there has been little demand for grey Swaledale over the last couple of years.

Now, new treatment is available which dramatically alters the whiteness and brightness of the wool without appearing to alter its other characteristics substantially.

Swaledale, which last year accounted for more than 1.5m kilos of British fleece wool, is particularly suitable for the treatment and is being used in trials.

Once treated, the wool is very much whiter but the board's product development manager, Richard Poole is circumspect. "We're impressed with the results and believe this could substantially improve the sales potential for Swaledale, particularly the grey, for our producers. However the treatment will add to the overall production costs and the yarn spinners and manufacturers will have to decide whether they are prepared to pay the difference," he said.

Meanwhile, the board believes there is also considerable marketing potential for other specific breed wools, such as Cheviot and Blackface, in carpets and presented these at the show in every stage of processing.

Examples of the raw wool, un-dyed and dyed yarn were displayed alongside tufted carpet "pictures" showing the particular sheep's head, using the un-dyed, natural yarn for the head, with contrasting shading and background colours, chosen from the 2004 International Colour Authority forecast for carpets and rugs in conjunction with the board.

Our picture shows the Swaledale, with the yarn overdyed to soft turquoise and giving lighter shades after treatment