Despite becoming automated over the years, wool carding has a centuries-long heritage. Just fifty years ago, the local textile and clothing manufacturers were doing a booming business. Now, however, they are almost all gone, victims of globalization and offshoring.
Were your grandmother’s lovingly knit socks and sweaters with 100% Québec wool from the local spinning mills, a true industrial pillar of the time? Times have changed since then.
An Evolving Market
Carding is a thousand-year-old technique of passing blended textiles through drums lined with fine steel bristles that unravel and divide fibres and gather them back together.
Originally done using hand-held cards or in factories, using old carding machines, today it is done using state-of-the-art machinery. Some use a worsted technique, which creates a finer, silkier wool fibre, while carding allows for a more rustic, cushy knit, perfect for our harsh winters… Real Canadian wool socks.
The carding or worsted process is also when different textile fibres are blended and colours are added.
Fibre Choice
With local demand steadily in decline, it has become increasingly difficult to find Québec or Canadian wool. Wool producers have given up sheep and lamb farming and turned to the more lucrative area of beef cattle farming. This is why nowadays local companies are importing wool from New Zealand, Australia and South America.
Technological advances in the textile industry have also allowed factories to take advantage of synthetic materials, including polypropylene and spandex, that improve product impermeability and elasticity. These synthetic fibres are ideal at compensating for wool’s weaknesses.
A Tradition Passed Down from Generation to Generation
In the forties, Tricots Duval et Raymond Ltée., which later became Duray, was already focusing mainly on wool. Initially, the company only carded wool. However, over the course of its evolution, it began designing different products. Today, the company is well-known for its authentic Canadian woollen socks.
At Duray, wool is a family passion passed down from generation to generation. Raw textiles of the best quality are carefully selected, then natural and synthetic fibres are blended and carded to spin the solid, high-performance yarn that we have long been recognized for.
Even though times have changed and the company has undergone a remarkable evolution, half a century later, we still produce your socks, mittens and gloves with the same care as always.
Duray is a fine blend of tradition and innovation. One thing is certain: We offer you real Canadian woollen socks.
Will you proudly carry on the tradition?