Romania x wool¶
We still are in process of documenting this page. Meanwhile you can still have look at: http://fabricademy.fabcloud.io/shemakes/handbook/1.-learning-paths/discovery-path/Workshops/5-rewool/ .
MAPPING THE LOCAL ECOSYSTEM¶
Researching together about the heritage and life cycle of wool-making in your territory.¶
Even though this is a very old preoccupation, with documents attesting to wool processing dating back to the 12th century, sheep farming in Romania was carried out in a rudimentary way and without sustained state support until 1944 leading to a significant increase in the number of sheep flocks in the following six decades.
The changes that came with the revolution in 1989 and the fall of the communist regime led to a decrease in demand for all types of wool, and therefore this fiber was not fully capitalized in Romania. In the absence of sustained state support, wool became useless compared to other fibers, and farmers had no choice but to abandon it.
We cannot talk about wool, sheep and breeding without implicitly talking about shepherding and pastoralism, whether local (with or without sheepfold) or transhumant, they are processes that are part of the Romanian patrimony and heritage.
There is information/memoirs about wool processing left by foreign travellers in the Romanian Lands, who talk about women who always had a spindle in their hands and spun wool and that weaving looms were not missing from almost every household. In the 15th-16th century the craft of weaving and felting developed significantly in Transylvania due to the needs of the population and the abundance of raw materials.
Shepherding in Romania is part of a peasant economy that is sustainable and environmentally friendly as a whole, as well as being a cultural, social and demographic phenomenon, whereas transhumance has led not only to the exploitation of new territories, but also to the exchange of knowledge and cultural elements between communities, and to the creation of new roads and settlements.
Local wool characteristics and typology¶
The types of Roman wool can best be classified by considering the fineness of the fiber:
Thick wool breeds
The Tsurcana is the oldest breed of sheep in Romania and represents 40% of the flock, 100% Romanian breed.
The hairs are conical in shape, with a slightly pointed tip and an irregular outer appearance. The fineness of the hairs varies between 38 and 47 microns and the length between 10-16 cm.
It belongs to the category of inferior wool and is used in the textile industry as well as in construction.
Semi-fine wool breeds
The Tsigai, which accounts for 33% of the Romanian sheep flock, is a lowland sheep breed that originated in the south-east of the Caspian Sea and spread to Europe. In our country, until 1950, the Tsigai breed was raised in large groups in southern Moldavia, Transylvania and Dobrogea. It is easy to breed and maintain. There are four varieties of the Tsgai breed, distinguished by the color of the wool: white (bela), buff, russet and black.
The Black Head of Teleorman, also popularly called "Carabașa", is a breed of sheep with a large body weight and semi-fine, white wool with black fibers in the shell. This breed of sheep was developed by breeders in the southern area, who created a population of ewes adaptable to the lowland conditions of the area.
Fine wool breeds
Merinos de Palas, which is the most perfected breed of sheep in Romania, being competitive nationally and internationally with other merino breeds.
Transylvanian Merinos Spanca variety The formation of this breed began at the end of the 19th century through crosses between the Merinos Negretti and Merinos Rambouillet breeds with Tsigai and Tsurcana sheep.
Key actors and active locations in the field¶
The Romanian wool sector has been insignificant in recent years due to lack of demand and low prices obtained from sales, in most cases the income obtained from the recovery of wool is approximately equal to the amount paid for the shearing.
In 2017 the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development approved a Government Decision (HG no.500/2017 )on the scheme of "De minimis aid for the application of the programme to support sheep farmers for the marketing of wool". This has influenced the emergence of many collecting centers in several regions of the country, in theory making it easier for breeders to access and therefore to value wool. The problem is that the collection centers also complain that wool has to be exported, as there are hardly any factories left in Romania to process it. So the production chain is currently fragmented
There are still a few craftsmen who process wool in their own households, having a significant cultural impact by perpetuating traditions representative of our national history and identity.
Spinners
Atlierul de dărăcit și tors lână - Zlatna
Stofe Buhuși
Transilana
Silvania Worsted Spinning Simleu Silvaniei - Grupul Sǖdwolle,
Filatura de lână mihai catrinescu
Fabrica de prelucrat lână - Curtea de Argeș
Processing - collecting, washing, exporting
Tolga Wool - Sibiu
Stofe Buhuși
Wool collecting centres
Total TDC SRL - Scânteiești, Galați
SC Nova Mat Colect SRL - Sumcuta Mare, Maramureș
LTA Mondial SRL - Baia, Tulcea
SC Mis Grup SRL - Sângeorz Băi,Bistrița Năsăud
Conti Total Top SÎRL - lumina, Constanța
Stejarul SRL - M.Kogălniceanu, Constanța
Sc Lana Pel SRL - Medgidia, Constanța
Kai Fu SRL - Târgușor, Constanța
SC Tolga SRL -Sibiu
Eurobussiness SRL - Sacel, Sibiu
Woolsib.SRL - Apoldu de Sus, Sibiu
Rosignon SRL - Faraoani, Bacău
Stofe Buhuși SA - Buhuși, Bacău
SC Com Lacramioara - Fălticeni, Suceava
Traditional, crafts
Complexului de Vâltori de la Lisa- Jud Brașov (3 spinning mills)
Siltexim - Chibed, Mureș
CoseeaWool-Cluj
Research
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE FOR SHEEP AND GOAT BREEDING PALAS - CONSTANTA
Șezători
Șezători în Țara Făgărașului- Făgăraș , Avrig ??
Miroslovești, Dumești, Sticlăria Scobinți, Heleșteni -Iași
Muzee
Muzeul Astra - Sibiu
Muzeul Textilelor - Baita, Hunedoara - research si heritage preservation
Check out what happened during shemakes with the Redu team:
- Video tutorials on eco-printing
- Rewool workshop
- Romanian wool context description