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Combing and carding are two related techniques for preparing cotton, hair or wool fibres. With respect to sheep’s wool, the two techniques are used for making either worsted or woollen threads respectively.

Mercerisation is a treatment of raw cotton or cotton yarns. The individual fibres are made to swell in a strong alkaline, which is afterwards neutralised in a special acid bath. This process causes the fibres to permanently swell, which straightens and strengthens them while giving them a shiny or lustrous appearance.

See mercerisation.