Extracting Lanolin from Sheep's Wool, Edwardian Farm 

In this clip from Edwardian Farm, Ruth Goodman extracts lanolin from sheep's wool.
Lanolin, also called wool wax or wool grease, is a yellow waxy substance secreted by the sebaceous glands of wool-bearing animals. Most lanolin used by humans comes fromdomestic sheep breeds that are raised specifically for their wool. Lanolin primarily consists of sterol esters. Its waterproofing property aids sheep in shedding water from their coats. Certain breeds of sheep produce large amounts of lanolin.
Lanolin and its many derivatives are used extensively in products designed for the protection, treatment and beautification of human skin.
Crude lanolin constitutes about 5-25% of the weight of freshly shorn wool. The wool from one Merino sheep will produce about 250-300 ml of recoverable wool grease. Lanolin is extracted by washing the wool in hot water with a special wool scouring detergent to remove dirt, wool grease (crude lanolin), suint (sweat salts), and anything else stuck to the wool. The wool grease is continuously removed during this washing process by centrifugal separators, which concentrate it into a wax-like substance melting at approximately 38 °C (100 °F).
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