Is there Dutch wool?
We are often asked whether there is Dutch wool. The answer is yes, there is indeed Dutch wool, but whether this wool is also good enough for clothing is the real question.
Wool is a collective name for animal fur. When we think of wool we often think of a sheepskin, but the coats of llamas, goats, camels and rabbits also fall under this name. In this article we keep it simple and the focus is on sheep wool.
Sheep’s wool
The Netherlands used to have an entire wool industry, but nowadays there is only one Dutch spinning mill and only a few places where wool is knitted by machine. This is due to globalization. The wool that is mainly used for clothing comes from the Merino sheep. These sheep can be found in large numbers in Australia and New Zealand. As a result, these countries are the most important for wool production worldwide.
The wool fibers of the Merino sheep are fine, soft, strong, thin and resilient. In the Netherlands, Texel sheep is most common, but the wool is too coarse for clothing. However, it is used for carpets and as a filling for duvets.
We can therefore conclude that there is Dutch wool, but that it is not qualitatively good enough for a Dutch wool sweater. We at Sustainablefabric.shop are, however, developing this. We are hopeful that in the future we will be able to make woolen (fashion) fabrics from Dutch wool.
At Sustainablefabrics.shop we also use wool in our fabrics. Curious? Then take a look at the shop below.
