Short answers, pulled from the story.
Merino wool is the most valuable type because of its extreme fineness, typically ranging from 12 to 24 microns in diameter, and its length of 90-115 mm. The finest Merino wools are classified as 1PP by the Australian Wool Exchange Council, a grade reserved for wool measuring 16.9 microns and finer; only a few dozen of the millions of bales auctioned each year qualify.
Wool scouring is the cleaning process applied to raw fleece before it can be used commercially. Wool straight off a sheep, called greasy wool, contains lanolin, dead skin, sweat residue, pesticides, and vegetable matter. Scouring may range from a simple warm-water bath to an industrial process using detergent and alkali in specialized equipment.
By the 13th century, the wool trade had become the economic engine of the Low Countries and central Italy. Raw wool was shipped from North Sea ports to the textile cities of Flanders, including Ypres and Ghent, for dyeing and finishing. The Medici and other great Florentine banking families built their wealth on textile production overseen by the Arte della Lana, the wool guild.
The collapse in wool prices began in late 1966 with a 40% drop. Increasing use of synthetic fibers drove down demand, and with occasional interruptions the price trend has been downward since then, leading to sharply reduced production and a shift among sheep growers toward meat production.
The Ermenegildo Zegna Vellus Aureum Trophy, launched in 2002, is awarded for wool measuring 13.9 microns or finer, open to growers from Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, and South Africa. The prize awards the winning fleece its equivalent weight in gold. New Zealand won the trophy for the first time in April 2008 with a fleece measuring 10.8 microns.
Research at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology found that a wool-Kevlar blend in 28-30 layers matched the bullet resistance of 36 layers of Kevlar alone. The blend was lighter, cheaper, and more effective in wet conditions, because Kevlar loses about 20% of its protective effectiveness when wet while wool-reinforced layers retain their friction and performance.