In a small village in Pakistan...

Ali Akbar goes door to door plying his trade as a wool carder

As the cool weather nears, families will give him their wool-stuffed quilts for him to de-clump, fluff and refill.

It's an age old tradition but it's giving way to modern tastes.

(carding/ringing)

The manual method of recarding is being replaced by machines like this one at a shop in Karachi.

KARACHI , PAKISTAN (RECENT) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

15. (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) OWNER OF COTTON RE-CYCLING SHOP, FAQIR MOHAMMAD, SAYING:

"Cotton fluffed up by hand is not as supple and soft as that done by a carding machine. A machine loosens out all the filaments of the compressed cotton wool completely, and it therefore becomes much softer, and rises."

Craftsmen still carry on the tradition of manually stuffing and hand stiching conforters, pillows and mattress pads.

The labor-intensive process can result in a product that can last for decades.