Wood wool, known primarily as excelsior in North America, is a product made of wood slivers cut from logs. It is mainly used in packaging, for cooling pads in home evaporative cooling systems known as swamp coolers, for erosion control mats, and as a raw material for the production of other products such as bonded wood wool boards. In the past it was used as stuffing, or padding, in upholstery, or to fill stuffed toys. It is also sometimes used by taxidermists to construct the armatures of taxidermy mounts. Terminology In the United States the term wood wool is reserved for finer grades of excelsior. The US Forest Service stated in 1948 and 1961 that, "In this country the product has no other general name, but in most other countries all grades of excelsior are known as wood wool. In the United States the name wood wool is reserved for only a small proportion of the output consisting of certain special grades of extra thin and narrow stock." The US Standard Industrial Classification Index SIC is 2429 for the product "Wood wool (excelsior)". The same term is used by the United States for the external trade number under which wood wool is monitored: HTS Number: 4405.00.00 Description: Wood wool (excelsior); wood flour. The number 4405.00 is applied to wood wool by the World Customs Organization in the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS). Grades and classifications The 1973 US Federal Government procurement specification PPP-E-911, cancelled in 1991, categorized "wood excelsior" products according to the following table of terms and dimensions: Applications Excelsior has many applications; examples include: restoration of antique buggy seats, and furniture. a packaging material for cushioning, such as Fibrenap (Cushy Pads) a stuffing for plush toys or for real animals in taxidermy. It was traditionally used in stuffing Teddy bears and still is for the muzzles of some collectible bears. cooling pads in home evaporative cooler systems known as "swamp coolers." bedding for animals and their cages. Wood wool serves to cushion the animals while providing some warmth and absorbing waste. For example, it is found in dairies, in hutches and in cardboard boxes when shipping day-old poultry within the United States. when dyed green, the material can be used as an artificial grass in Easter egg baskets. This was popular before the prevalence of plastics. mats and blankets for erosion control. a material used in