What If Wool Wasn't the Miracle Material the Outdoor Industry Says It Is?

"Gold on the Loom"

Once upon a time, wool was an incredibly prized resource. In particular, the wool produced by Merino sheep, one of over a thousand different breeds, has long been renowned for its softness and performance attributes, like being naturally antimicrobial, quick-drying, and temperature-regulating. The breed originated in Spain around the 12th century and they were deemed so valuable that in order to protect their monopoly on the trade, exporting a merino sheep from the country was regarded as a capital offense until late in the 18th century. There is a reason wool was known as “gold on the loom.”

In The Salt Stones, a memoir about raising Icelandic sheep on a farm in Vermont, Helen Whybrow explains how crucial wool was to colonial America. Wool was so integral in providing warm clothing and blankets that in 1778 the British Navy stole 9,000 sheep from Martha’s Vineyard in an effort to undermine the revolutionaries. Later, the founding fathers, recognizing the need for quality wool, conspired to smuggle sheep out of Spain, which is how the first Merino sheep arrived in the United States in 1802. Though merino wool production never became a mainstay of US agriculture, the fabric continued to be a key part of military and outdoor apparel throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Elsewhere, particularly in Australia and New Zealand, merino production became big business.

Aside from monetary value, there’s ecological merit to sheep farming too, but only when it’s done on a small scale. When sheep are in sync with their environment, the land thrives. “Their hooves subtly and gently till the ground and open the thatch in cold ground, and they leave perfectly pelleted compost in the way of dung everywhere they go,” writes Whybrow. “Now, with modern sheep breeding designed to raise animals for uniformity and for one purpose (meat or wool), many ancient sheep breeds adapted to their terrain around the world are disappearing.”

The Problem with Wool: Industrial Sheep Farming

Small farms like Whybrow's—she raises roughly 90 sheep on 200 hilly acres—can’t outfit the world in wool. Australia produces about 345 million kilos of wool a year, and about 81% of the world’s merino. To produce it at scale requires industrial methods, and this is where our perception of bucolic grazing goes awry.

A 2021 report entitled “Shear Destruction” by the Center for Biological Diversity highlighted some alarming statistics regarding wool. According to the report, one Australian merino wool sweater is responsible for 27 times more greenhouse gas emissions than an Australian cotton one due to the agricultural needs of the animals (food, water) and the processing required to turn shorn wool into a usable fabric.

This is because at scale, sheep require tremendous amounts of land and water. The wool industry uses 20% of agricultural lands in Australia. In addition, to appease modern consumers, wool is often “superwashed” in a chlorine solution that erodes the scales on the surface of wool, and is then coated in a resin to seal the surface and make it machine washable and prevent felting and shrinking. Not only does this process involve harmful chemicals and tremendous amounts of water, it removes the fabric's biodegradable quality.

This isn’t to say you should feel guilty about all your wool garments or stop purchasing wool. Sustainability and industrial farming are fundamentally at odds, whether it comes to wool or any other textile. But there might be better ways to buy wool.

One Solution: Shop Farm-to-Closet

It is not uncommon for a sweater that you purchase to be made from wool that was shorn in Australia, processed in China, and then shipped to the US. Some 82% of raw Australian wool is finished in China. That puts a lot of mileage on the fabric, not to mention the environmental impact of superwashing.

Whybrow says consumers who wish to attain more awareness about their wool could think about their purchases like farm-to-table eating.

“Anytime consumers choose something small-scale and local they are doing a lot for the earth and the local economy, because small-scale and local is much more sustainable,” she said. It’s the same reason why buying blueberries at your local farm stand will always be better for the planet than buying them in the supermarket (where they might've been flown in from Peru or Chile).

Knowing your fibershed—a regional textile production system composed of locally sourced materials—not only allows for a shorter supply chain, it fosters healthier animals and farms as well. Small, biodiverse farms that aren’t producing a monoculture are far better for the environment because they create self-sustaining ecosystems that feature healthier soil, reduced emissions, and increased resistance to pests and disease. Whybrow recommended Muriel’s of Vermont, a purveyor that sources wool from multiple New England farms that raise differing varieties of dual purpose sheep for both meat and fiber, as an ideal example of farm-to-closet shopping.

Laura Jacoby, one of the the founders and owners of Muriel’s, explained that purchasing and processing wool from local small farms helps keep those farms in business, which is a boon for local economies as well as for biodiversity. Wool produced at this scale typically isn't superwashed either. This means their products retain the natural properties of wool that we—and most of the marketing claims surrounding wool—prize, like its ability to shed water and keep us warm. Lanolin, the oily secretion that sheep produce to weatherproof their fleece, is mostly stripped out by superwashing.

“Some of our sweaters have hay in them,” said Jacoby. “But if it’s highly processed you lose a lot of the lanolin and it's the lanolin that gives it some waterproofing and windproofing characteristics and also repels stains.”

Whybrow mentioned that she still wears wool sweaters that her grandmother made for her mom. There's a reason grandma’s wool sweater lasts so long—when wool is highly processed and its scales are removed, the fibers become shorter and weaker and more prone to tearing.

As we spoke, Jacoby mentioned that she was wearing a wool sweater that she made five years ago that showed no signs of pilling. “Our New England fiber is longer than merino and you can’t see a pill on it,” she said.

Responsible Wool and the Outdoor Industry

In the outdoor industry, marketing performance apparel made of wool as a sustainable and responsible choice is the widespread norm. Not only do these products perform better, but they're better for the planet, too. But are these brands just pulling the wool over our eyes, so to speak?

The answer is complicated. Many brands partner with Woolmark, an Australian company that ensures the 60,000 wool growers within its network meet a certain standard of quality, or they use wool that has a Responsible Wool Standard certification, which ensures the wool is traceable to farms that meet specific standards of animal welfare, land management, and social responsibility. In 2016, Patagonia developed their own Patagonia Wool Standard that relies upon RWS-certified farms but has even stricter animal welfare standards.

These organizations have helped promote accountability, animal welfare, and sustainability among large-scale wool producers. For example RWS-certified wool comes from sheep that were not mulesed, a controversial practice in which strips of skin are removed from the sheep’s buttocks to prevent fatal blowfly infestation. There is also a recommendation to offer pain relief to sheep undergoing other procedures, and RWS evaluates the land management practices engaged in by the farmer or grower.

If you can’t buy local, ensuring that the wool you purchase is responsibly sourced is the next best thing. However keep in mind that even Woolmark or RWS-certified wool is usually (but not necessarily) superwashed and shipped great distances.

Andrew Bridgers, the Head of Supply Chain and Planning at Ibex, explained that they put an emphasis on how the sheep are raised and how the wool is harvested over the geographical location of where it comes from: “Ethical farming practices can be practiced anywhere where farmers and wool suppliers are willing to work together to ensure the welfare and quality of life for sheep, farmers, and everyone involved in the process.”

There are also wool products out there, like Beringia’s Farallon Wool Shirt, that are made from recycled wool scraps. The material for the shirt comes from a region of Japan that has been producing wool without raising sheep for over a century. Instead, the off-cuttings from commercial wool are imported and processed by small local mills. And instead of using a chlorine-based superwash, Beringia uses a protein-based process that soaks the wool in an enzyme that strengthens and protects it. The result is not as smooth as superwashed wool but is more eco-friendly and helps the wool retain its natural properties.

“Merino is wool,” said Robert Bernthal, the CEO and co-founder of Beringia. “It’s just a name. I think it’s way more interesting to think about what’s a good way to do wool. Are there alternative ways to source and process it?”

There are certainly cost and convenience trade-offs to be considered in purchasing your next wool garment, especially if you'd like to buy into the promise of wool as an ethical, sustainable material. It’s useful to know that the hand-knitted virgin wool sweater at the farmer’s market is a much more sustainable purchase than the sweater featuring fabric harvested in Australia, processed in China, and shipped to the US.

In the end, the best piece of advice for people purchasing wool may be the simplest. “Consumers should look for pieces that feel great on them and fit them well as they will keep them longer,” said Bridgers. “Keeping a garment in use is far more sustainable than any replacement you can buy.”