Wool is the hair of sheep. This unique fiber must be shorn from the sheep once a year to prevent overgrowth. Overgrowth can cause body over- heating and excess weight in some varieties of sheep. Shearing is really giving them a necessary haircut. The shorn wool is sorted by a wool classer and then is sent for processing. Fine wool is used extensively for clothing and helping to solve medical problems, like pressure sores. Coarse wool is usually used for carpets, felt, insulation etc.
Sheepskin is a by-product of the meat industry. The skin is removed following death, fleshed and then tanned. After tanning, the wool, which is still attached to the skin, may be trimmed to an even height to produce Medical Sheepskins, shoes, slippers, wheelchair pads etc. If the wool is removed entirely, the cleaned leather is used for leather jackets, hand bags, coats, chamois, etc. Tanning is necessary to preserve the skin and to secure the wool fibers to the leather.