Guiding Criteria for Eco Wool Batting:
First, Eco Wool brand batting is used by many organic manufacturers, and can not be claimed as a retailer or private label brand.
Eco Wool batting is made from a blend of wool from different sheep breeds selected by Woolgatherer Carding Mill. Each woolgrower must enssure that fleeces come from healthy sheep raised on sustainably managed lands. We pay collaborating woolgrowers a premium for the best fleeces from their flocks. Fleeces are then cleaned and carded on a full wool card line, which produces the finest known woolen batting available.
- PROPER GRAZING METHODS: Adequate field rotation
to decrease soil erosion and to reduce the risk of sheep acquiring
internal parasites.
- PREDATOR FRIENDLY: Growers are encouraged to
use trained sheep guardian dogs (not trapping or shooting) and the
inclusion of other larger animals, such as llamas, to guard the flock.
- HEALTHY VETERINARY PRACTICES: Only certain
kinds of medications and supplements can be used to treat the sheep.
Alternative caring methods are preferred to keep sheep healthy with
fewer chemicals.
- CHEMICAL CONTROL: Eco Wool opposes the use of
herbicides and pesticides on fields that the sheep will be grazing in.
We are able to determine if growers use these chemicals in our routine
wool chemical testing.
- SPECIFICATIONS FOR BREED, COLOR, STRENGTH AND
MICRON-WIDTH: The Woolgatherer Carding Mill blend uses wool from six to
eight different breeds, depending on availability. Eco Wool does not
allow black wool and very little canary yellow wool in the ECO WOOL
blend.
- SKIRTING: Skirting is the process of removing less-desirable wool from the belly and back end of the sheep. This wool is separated on a skirting table and sold to other clients.
In addition samples of wool are sent to two separate laboratories for chemical testing. A sample of the raw wool is sent to the University of Utah, and a sample of the batting is sent to Oeko-Tech Laboratory in Germany.
The University of Mass-Lowell performed tests comparing Eco Wool
batting to a competitor’s for strength, resilience, flammability, and endurance. Their tests demonstrated that a mattress made with ECO WOOL batting would last twice as long as the competitor’s before flattening on top.
Common Industry Practices
CARBONIZING: Destroying vegetable matter lodged in wool using harsh acid; leaving the wool dried and unnaturally crimped. This method is used with New Zealand wool, as it tends to contain more veggie matter (5%VM).
DIPPING: Bathing sheep in chemicals to ward off pests and insects.
BLEACHING: Different chemical solutions can be applied to whiten wool during and after scouring.
CARELESS SHEARING:
Shearers are often paid per sheep, encouraging the average shearer to hurry. This leads to small wounds on the sheep that can easily become infected.
OVER-GRAZING: Crowding too many sheep onto land destroys vegetation and leads to erosion. If a field becomes barren, the grower must bring in dry feed that can add additional veggie-matter to the fleece.