Woolen is the name of a yarn and cloth usually made from wool.

The woolen process entails that the wool be opened and subsequently carded (often several times to obtain prerequisite homogeneity). The wool leaves a carding machine as a thin web. In the woolen process, the web, after the final card, is split up into numerous bands which are rubbed into roving and often stored on bobbins awaiting transport to a spinning frame.

There are several technologies used for spinning roving into thread with or without additional streching of the yarn; formerly the most important being ring spinning and selfactor spinning ; nowadays open end spinning . Regardless of the technique employed the resulting woolen yarn has relatively high 'bulk' and therefor exhibits good thermal insulation properties compared to worsted yarns which are smooth, shiny, and compact.