What is "mineral wool"

Mineral \Min"er*al\, a.

1. Of or pertaining to minerals; consisting of a mineral or of minerals; as, a mineral substance.

2. Impregnated with minerals; as, mineral waters.

   Mineral acids (Chem.), inorganic acids, as sulphuric, nitric, phosphoric, hydrochloric, acids, etc., as distinguished from the organic acids.

   Mineral blue, the name usually given to azurite, when reduced to an impalpable powder for coloring purposes.

   Mineral candle, a candle made of paraffin.

   Mineral caoutchouc, an elastic mineral pitch, a variety of bitumen, resembling caoutchouc in elasticity and softness. See Caoutchouc, and Elaterite.

   Mineral chameleon (Chem.) See Chameleon mineral, under Chameleon.

   Mineral charcoal. See under Charcoal.

   Mineral cotton. See Mineral wool (below).

   Mineral green, a green carbonate of copper; malachite.

   Mineral kingdom (Nat. Sci.), that one of the three grand divisions of nature which embraces all inorganic objects, as distinguished from plants or animals.

   Mineral oil. See Naphtha, and Petroleum.

   Mineral paint, a pigment made chiefly of some natural mineral substance, as red or yellow iron ocher.

   Mineral patch. See Bitumen, and Asphalt.

   Mineral right, the right of taking minerals from land.

   Mineral salt (Chem.), a salt of a mineral acid.

   Mineral tallow, a familiar name for hatchettite, from its fatty or spermaceti-like appearance.

   Mineral water. See under Water.

   Mineral wax. See Ozocerite.

   Mineral wool, a fibrous wool-like material, made by blowing a powerful jet of air or steam through melted slag. It is a poor conductor of heat.

Wool \Wool\ (w[oo^]l), n. [OE. wolle, wulle, AS. wull; akin to D. wol, OHG. wolla, G. wolle, Icel. & Sw. ull, Dan. uld, Goth, wulla, Lith. vilna, Russ. volna, L. vellus, Skr. [=u]r[.n][=a] wool, v[.r] to cover. [root]146, 287. Cf. Flannel, Velvet.]

1. The soft and curled, or crisped, species of hair which grows on sheep and some other animals, and which in fineness sometimes approaches to fur; -- chiefly applied to the fleecy coat of the sheep, which constitutes a most essential material of clothing in all cold and temperate climates.

   Note: Wool consists essentially of keratin.

2. Short, thick hair, especially when crisped or curled.

   Wool of bat and tongue of dog.
   --Shak.

3. (Bot.) A sort of pubescence, or a clothing of dense, curling hairs on the surface of certain plants. Dead pulled wool, wool pulled from a carcass. Mineral wool. See under Mineral. Philosopher's wool. (Chem.) See Zinc oxide, under Zinc. Pulled wool, wool pulled from a pelt, or undressed hide. Slag wool. Same as Mineral wool, under Mineral. Wool ball, a ball or mass of wool. Wool burler, one who removes little burs, knots, or extraneous matter, from wool, or the surface of woolen cloth. Wool comber.

   1. One whose occupation is to comb wool.

   2. A machine for combing wool. Wool grass (Bot.), a kind of bulrush ( Scirpus Eriophorum) with numerous clustered woolly spikes. Wool scribbler. See Woolen scribbler, under Woolen, a. Wool sorter's disease (Med.), a disease, resembling malignant pustule, occurring among those who handle the wool of goats and sheep. Wool staple, a city or town where wool used to be brought to the king's staple for sale. [Eng.] Wool stapler.

      1. One who deals in wool.

      2. One who sorts wool according to its staple, or its adaptation to different manufacturing purposes.

         Wool winder, a person employed to wind, or make up, wool into bundles to be packed for sale.

n. a light fibrous material used as an insulator [syn: rock wool]

Mineral wool, also known as mineral fiber, mineral cotton, mineral fibre, man-made mineral fibre (MMMF), and man-made vitreous fiber (MMVF), is a general name for fiber materials that are formed by spinning or drawing molten minerals (or " synthetic minerals" such as slag and ceramics). The nomenclature of these wool products is simply the parent/raw material name in prefix to wool. Wool from glass is glass wool, wool from rock is stone wool and so on. Specific mineral wool products are stone wool and slag wool. Europe also includes glass wool which, together with ceramic fiber, are completely man-made fibers. Applications of mineral wool include thermal insulation (as both structural insulation and pipe insulation, though it is not as fire-resistant as high-temperature insulation wool), filtration, soundproofing, and hydroponic growth medium.