In addition to what Shorty said about "filler fibers" (the man certainly knows wool - he's in Australia)... wool carpet/rugs are made from "staple fiber" i.e. SHORT STRANDS of fiber. Synthetic carpets/rugs are made from long strands of continuous synthetic fiber (the fibers are extruded). By comparison, sheep can't grow continuous long strands of hair - they can only grow hair that are a couple of inches long. And therein lies the issue. Short wool fibers will naturally work themselves loose from the carpet/rug (especially when it's new). It sounds like this is what your customer is seeing. Loose staple fibers shedding from the carpet/rug is a natural condition - it's simply the "nature of the beast" (literally). And this condition of staple fibers shedding from the carpet/rug will be even more pronounced when it comes to cheaper wool products. With wool carpets/rugs the condition of shedding is always going to present itself to some degree (and it will especially be apparent with new wool carpets/rugs). So it really sounds like what your customer is experiencing is normal. Shedding is what wool does naturally - since it comes from an animal.
Rick Gelinas
