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Per the tag, unless people can source the claims about alpaca wool being supposedly "warmer" and such than sheep wool, I'm going to be removing them. Van Tucky 08:34, 30 January 2008 (UTC)
Sidestepping this issue- I'm new to putting in references (of which I found one that said, multiple times, that alpaca was warmer, soft, and had a few more positive adjectives that I've added), and if I've referenced things poorly, or too often, or something, feel free to tell me/fix it. Loggie ( talk) 20:42, 26 February 2008 (UTC)
Is there any remaining reason for the NPOV tag? Durova Charge! 22:49, 26 February 2008 (UTC)
Never mind the fact that it is warmer than sheep's wool (it is a hollow fibre, thus being a fantastic insulator)- i object to the openeing sentence reading 'Alpaca fleece is fiber, similar to sheep’s wool in some respects'. The only way in which it is similar to sheep's wool is that it's a natural fibre that grows on the back of an animal. There is no reason to devalue alpaca fibre by starting the article by relating it to a sheep. It should begin: 'Alpaca is a light-weight, lustrous and silky natural fibre... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.155.124.182 ( talk) 16:58, 5 February 2008 (UTC)
ALPACAS RULE!!!!! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 219.89.13.73 ( talk) 07:14, 9 June 2012 (UTC)
Breeders often claim that alpaca fibre has “a hollow, insulating core that gives alpaca fiber a cloud -weight softness”etc. This is misleading.
In fact they are referring to a type of fibre "Medullated fibres" that can be objectionable. As Davison/Holt 2004 explain, Medullated fibres are fibres with a central core, which may be continuous, interrupted, or fragmented. The cortical cells that make up the walls of the fibre are wrapped around a medulla, or core, that is made up of another type of cell (medullary cells). Later, these cells may contract or disappear, and hence "the proud reference to 'hollow fibres' that was so often heard in the early days of the industry, which in fact was a reference to medullated fibres".
The higher incidence of medullated fibres in alpaca, compared to wool and mohair, can be an unwelcome trait. They can take less dye, standing out in the finished garment, and are weaker. The proportion of medullated fibres is higher in the coarser, unwanted guard hairs. There is less or no medullation in the finer, lower micron fibres.
see also Fiber Characteristics of U.S. Huacaya Alpacas by Angus McColl, Yocom-McColl Testing Laboratories, Inc., Chris Lupton, Texas A&M University System, and Bob Stobart, University of Wyoming
Davison/Holt Hosaymerino ( talk) 18:20, 22 October 2008 (UTC)
The section on alpaca history has this curious sentence: "Vicuñas were first domesticated and bred into alpacas by the ancient Andean tribes of Peru, but also appeared in Chile and Bolivia." This suggests (incorrectly) that the Andean tribes of Peru were different from those of Chile and Bolivia. In fact, the borders are modern inventions that have nothing to do with where the ancient people lived. It also suggests that alpacas arose in three different places, which is rather silly. I propose changing the sentence to "Vicuñas were first domesticated and bred into alpacas by the ancient Andean tribes of Peru, Chile and Bolivia," or maybe "Vicuñas were first domesticated and bred into alpacas by the ancient tribes of the Andean highlands of Peru, Chile and Bolivia." — MiguelMunoz ( talk) 18:46, 2 January 2009 (UTC)
My family comes from Bolivia, so I've been wearing alpaca sweaters for fifty years. When I was a child, I remember alpaca sweaters for being incredibly warm (much more so than sheep's wool), but very itchy. They would often itch right through an undershirt. But today's alpaca isn't itchy at all, and alpaca fiber is always described as "not itchy" in the literature. Does anybody know the history of how the itch was removed from the fiber? Does anyone have a reference? (I was disturbed to read that high-quality sheep's wool is often called "alpaca," so I wonder if some of the soft "alpaca" sweaters I've marveled at in stores were actually sheep's wool.) — MiguelMunoz ( talk) 19:07, 2 January 2009 (UTC)
I've labled the lead section as to long because it is more than half the length of the whole article. Sign My Guestbook! User:Sumsum2010 02:23, 7 April 2010 (UTC)
The claim of Alpaca fiber/wool being hypoallergenic is suspect. While it's often repeated on marketing pages for Alpaca-based products, it seems dubious for a number of reasons. Based on this source, which is a paper from the book "A Definitive Guide To Alpaca Fiber", the Alpaca absolutely produces lanolin, though less of it than other wool producers like sheep.
Further, I can't seem to find any source that backs up the idea of lanolin as an allergen. Studies like the ones here and here seem to indicate that percieved wool allergies can generally be traced to scratchiness due to the increased size of the wool fiber, combined with the warmth trapped by wool against skin. Warm, sweaty, prickly skin is an allergic-reaction-esque symptom, but without the "allergic reaction" immune system response.
HoustonRH7 (
talk)
23:01, 11 April 2021 (UTC)
I've just barely scratched the surface of this article myself, but it looks like there's a few things that need cleanup. My primary concerns are with providing a more global perspective and general encyclopedic tone. Some reorganizing of the sections may also be warranted (do we need two different history sections?) I don't currently have the time or confidence to address all of these on my own, so I'd appreciate if someone might be able to take a look. (P.S. I'm still figuring out the watchlist, please ping if you want my attention.) Duckduckgoop ( talk) 10:10, 20 December 2021 (UTC)
A lot of claims in this article are the marketing spin of the alpaca industry and enthusiasts, not established science. Seankelleher ( talk) 08:48, 16 January 2024 (UTC)
This is the
talk page for discussing improvements to the
Alpaca fiber article. This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject. |
Article policies
|
Find sources: Google ( books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL |
This article is written in American English with IUPAC spelling (color, defense, traveled; aluminium, sulfur and caesium) and some terms that are used in it may be different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style guide and chemistry naming conventions, this should not be changed without broad consensus. |
This article is rated B-class on Wikipedia's
content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Per the tag, unless people can source the claims about alpaca wool being supposedly "warmer" and such than sheep wool, I'm going to be removing them. Van Tucky 08:34, 30 January 2008 (UTC)
Sidestepping this issue- I'm new to putting in references (of which I found one that said, multiple times, that alpaca was warmer, soft, and had a few more positive adjectives that I've added), and if I've referenced things poorly, or too often, or something, feel free to tell me/fix it. Loggie ( talk) 20:42, 26 February 2008 (UTC)
Is there any remaining reason for the NPOV tag? Durova Charge! 22:49, 26 February 2008 (UTC)
Never mind the fact that it is warmer than sheep's wool (it is a hollow fibre, thus being a fantastic insulator)- i object to the openeing sentence reading 'Alpaca fleece is fiber, similar to sheep’s wool in some respects'. The only way in which it is similar to sheep's wool is that it's a natural fibre that grows on the back of an animal. There is no reason to devalue alpaca fibre by starting the article by relating it to a sheep. It should begin: 'Alpaca is a light-weight, lustrous and silky natural fibre... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.155.124.182 ( talk) 16:58, 5 February 2008 (UTC)
ALPACAS RULE!!!!! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 219.89.13.73 ( talk) 07:14, 9 June 2012 (UTC)
Breeders often claim that alpaca fibre has “a hollow, insulating core that gives alpaca fiber a cloud -weight softness”etc. This is misleading.
In fact they are referring to a type of fibre "Medullated fibres" that can be objectionable. As Davison/Holt 2004 explain, Medullated fibres are fibres with a central core, which may be continuous, interrupted, or fragmented. The cortical cells that make up the walls of the fibre are wrapped around a medulla, or core, that is made up of another type of cell (medullary cells). Later, these cells may contract or disappear, and hence "the proud reference to 'hollow fibres' that was so often heard in the early days of the industry, which in fact was a reference to medullated fibres".
The higher incidence of medullated fibres in alpaca, compared to wool and mohair, can be an unwelcome trait. They can take less dye, standing out in the finished garment, and are weaker. The proportion of medullated fibres is higher in the coarser, unwanted guard hairs. There is less or no medullation in the finer, lower micron fibres.
see also Fiber Characteristics of U.S. Huacaya Alpacas by Angus McColl, Yocom-McColl Testing Laboratories, Inc., Chris Lupton, Texas A&M University System, and Bob Stobart, University of Wyoming
Davison/Holt Hosaymerino ( talk) 18:20, 22 October 2008 (UTC)
The section on alpaca history has this curious sentence: "Vicuñas were first domesticated and bred into alpacas by the ancient Andean tribes of Peru, but also appeared in Chile and Bolivia." This suggests (incorrectly) that the Andean tribes of Peru were different from those of Chile and Bolivia. In fact, the borders are modern inventions that have nothing to do with where the ancient people lived. It also suggests that alpacas arose in three different places, which is rather silly. I propose changing the sentence to "Vicuñas were first domesticated and bred into alpacas by the ancient Andean tribes of Peru, Chile and Bolivia," or maybe "Vicuñas were first domesticated and bred into alpacas by the ancient tribes of the Andean highlands of Peru, Chile and Bolivia." — MiguelMunoz ( talk) 18:46, 2 January 2009 (UTC)
My family comes from Bolivia, so I've been wearing alpaca sweaters for fifty years. When I was a child, I remember alpaca sweaters for being incredibly warm (much more so than sheep's wool), but very itchy. They would often itch right through an undershirt. But today's alpaca isn't itchy at all, and alpaca fiber is always described as "not itchy" in the literature. Does anybody know the history of how the itch was removed from the fiber? Does anyone have a reference? (I was disturbed to read that high-quality sheep's wool is often called "alpaca," so I wonder if some of the soft "alpaca" sweaters I've marveled at in stores were actually sheep's wool.) — MiguelMunoz ( talk) 19:07, 2 January 2009 (UTC)
I've labled the lead section as to long because it is more than half the length of the whole article. Sign My Guestbook! User:Sumsum2010 02:23, 7 April 2010 (UTC)
The claim of Alpaca fiber/wool being hypoallergenic is suspect. While it's often repeated on marketing pages for Alpaca-based products, it seems dubious for a number of reasons. Based on this source, which is a paper from the book "A Definitive Guide To Alpaca Fiber", the Alpaca absolutely produces lanolin, though less of it than other wool producers like sheep.
Further, I can't seem to find any source that backs up the idea of lanolin as an allergen. Studies like the ones here and here seem to indicate that percieved wool allergies can generally be traced to scratchiness due to the increased size of the wool fiber, combined with the warmth trapped by wool against skin. Warm, sweaty, prickly skin is an allergic-reaction-esque symptom, but without the "allergic reaction" immune system response.
HoustonRH7 (
talk)
23:01, 11 April 2021 (UTC)
I've just barely scratched the surface of this article myself, but it looks like there's a few things that need cleanup. My primary concerns are with providing a more global perspective and general encyclopedic tone. Some reorganizing of the sections may also be warranted (do we need two different history sections?) I don't currently have the time or confidence to address all of these on my own, so I'd appreciate if someone might be able to take a look. (P.S. I'm still figuring out the watchlist, please ping if you want my attention.) Duckduckgoop ( talk) 10:10, 20 December 2021 (UTC)
A lot of claims in this article are the marketing spin of the alpaca industry and enthusiasts, not established science. Seankelleher ( talk) 08:48, 16 January 2024 (UTC)