Cuticle scale heights of wool and specialty fibers and their changes due to textile processing

Animal fiber identification in the scanning electron microscope (SEM) using the criterion of cuticle scale edge height (CSH) is a well established met hod suitable for all stages of textile processing. In his paper, P. A. Tuck er (Textile Res. J. 68, 229-230 (1998)) presents results that lead him to s tate comprehensively, "fiber identification based on scale heights is misle ading for some and probably all chemically treated fibers." After scrutiniz ing Tucker's evidence in view of specific SEM investigations in the literat ure and applying a consistent terminology, we conclude that he fails to pro vide valid evidence against the CSH method for discriminating sheep's wool from specialty fibers. Furthermore, we document changes in fiber surface mo rphology due to textile processing and discuss their general relevance for wool and specialty fiber analysis.