The Wool Wire | February 27, 2025
Wool finds its way into everything from pots and pellets to hot tubs and high-tech campers.
News snippets from the wool world
Hello my friends,
Let's explore ways in which wool is not only making a comeback but reaching entirely new and unexpected places.
And what could be more unexpected than in your hot tub?
Rub a dub dub, many sheep in a tub
The New Zealand company Outdoor Gravity is best known for its Zorb balls, those giant translucent balls that people climb into and then bounce their way downhill. But when COVID lockdowns shuttered their adventure parks, Outdoor Gravity began thinking about possible pivots.
Because their adventure parks happened to have a lot of hot tubs, they focused their attention there. They're located in a country that, until 2022, had more sheep than people, prompting general manager David Akers to think about wool.
"And so we looked at the idea of making a more sustainable hot tub and spa cover as well, because spa covers can be made of polystyrene and spa pools can be made of plastic and all sorts of nasties in terms of the insulation."
The company was testing water temperatures in the tubs — comparing wool insulation with none at all.
Akers said so far the results had been positive.
Let's hope they continue to experiment, finesse the product, and bring it into production.
Going to pot and proud of it
I've talked about wool in the garden quite a lot, including the use of thick, rugged felted fabric for pots and planters. But one UK company, fittingly called Wool Pots, is taking a different approach.
My Store
They're using circular knitting technology to make wool pots out of knitted fabric. These pots are far thinner and lighter than felted ones, making them ideal for seed starting. When the plant is big enough, you can pop the whole thing in the ground. The wool will quickly begin to biodegrade, providing enhanced moisture retention and soil fertility.
The pots are made in Portugal and available in the United States through Lazy Dirt Flower Farm.
Praising the promise of pellets
I've covered wool pellets many times, but I'm always interested to see how different journalists build on the story. This Time article by Lindsey King highlights the potential (and challenges) of pellets in terms of large-scale farming and water conservation.
Lindsey King
The last paragraph plants many seeds in terms of what wool can do for a warming planet.
Waste wool offers promise in realms beyond crop production and water usage as well. “We’ve really just scratched the surface of wool’s uses,” says Brent Roeder, 53, extension sheep and wool specialist with Montana State University. He and others say that wool—pelletized, woven into mats that encourage the growth of soil-stabilizing plants, or even made into pillows that reduce stream bank failure—can likely help with land reclamation in former mining areas, assist with roadside revegetation projects, invigorate grazing lands, promote vegetation growth in terrain devastated by wildfire, and be used to stem erosion. “All of these things are a big deal, too,” Wilde says, “especially as we talk more and more about climate change.”
There's no camper like a snow camper
Washington-based camping trailer maker Mammoth Overland has added a new trailer to its line-up of rugged, aircraft-grade off-road campers. Called the Wly Mammoth, this camper's interior is lined with—you guessed it—wool insulation, thus increasing the camper's R value to R12, and I'll pause to let you Google what that means because I didn't know either.
Should you have $57,000 burning a hole in your pocket, and should you happen to love camping in extremely cold and remote yet still truck-accessible conditions, and should you also need air conditioning, satellite Internet, hot water on demand, and the ability to stay toasty warm even when it's -20F, this one's for you. (And thanks to Foundation Flocker Diane for sharing the article with me.)
William Roberson
Wool continues to make its way back into all the corners of our world, whether it's in our closets, camping trailers, flower beds, or hot tubs.
On that note, I'll let you go.
Thanks, as always, for your readership and your support.
Until next time,
Clara
