HD Wool Apparel Insulation

Coats featuring HD Wood Apparel Insulation / Source: HD Wool

Anti-MicrobialBreathableElasticEuropeHD Wool Apparel InsulationHypoallergenicMoisture BarrierOdour ResistantRecyclableRegenerativeTextilesWater RepellentWool

WHAT WE SAY:

Too often, performance apparel and outerwear relies on polyester for insulation, but HD Wool is ripping up the rule book with its Apparel Insulation made from traceable, regenerative wool.

An innovative new arm of a 130-year-old company, its rethinking wool for the 21st century by creating breathable, moisture-wicking, odour-resistant insulation without a plastic microfibre in sight. While wool insulation does need more care than your average polyester padding, we think it’s worth it to get natural fibres back into clothes made for the natural environment.

HD Wool Apparel Insulation

WHAT IS HD WOOL APPAREL INSULATION?

HD Wool Apparel Insulation is a traceable, regenerative Wool product created specifically for insulation in performance clothing.
The wool insulation is naturally temperature-regulating, breathable, antibacterial, odour-inhibiting and moisture-wicking. It’s available in weights from 75 to 200 grams per square metre.
There are two HD Wool solutions available – HD Wool Apparel Insulation: Pure is made from 100% wool and is therefore biodegradable, and HD Wool Apparel Insulation: Evolve Active is a machine-washable blend of wool and PLA. End-of-life options for PLA include industrial composting and recycling, but it’s worth noting this would rely on access to suitable facilities and appropriate sorting and separating. We’ll always favour no plastic over bioplastic.
HD Wool operates under two traceability standards. The Savory Institute’s Land to Market programme ensures that all wool is verified as coming from regenerative sources, while the Woolkeepers initiative guarantees fair prices paid to farmers and high levels of animal welfare, including an assurance that all wool is non-mulesed.
Wool is compostable, taking from three months to two years to biodegrade. Made from keratin, it slowly releases nitrogen as it composts. It can be used for weed and pest control, temperature and moisture control, and as a circular alternative to peat.
HD Wool was initially developed for bedding, but since specialising in apparel insulation, the product has been used for a range of garments including coats, smocks, light jackets and gilets.

KEY PROPERTIES:

Anti-Microbial
Breathable
Elastic
Hypoallergenic
Moisture Barrier
Odour Resistant
Recyclable
Regenerative
Water Repellent

INDUSTRY:

Textiles

AVAILABILITY:

Commercially Available

DIVE DEEPER:

HD Wool Apparel Insulation is the innovations division of H. Dawson Wool, a wool supplier based in Yorkshire, UK. Founded in 1888, it specialises in biodegradable raw materials.
HD Wool Apparel was established in 2014 and provides an alternative to polyester padding and insulation. Currently, polyester represents 52% of all global fibre production, with around 57 million tonnes produced annually.
Derived from oil, polyester fibres make up nearly three-quarters of microfibre pollution in the Arctic. Polyester microfibres have also been found on top of Mount Everest, on newly formed volcanic beaches, and in the lungs of humans.
Wool is a natural fibre and insulator, used by humans for thousands of years to keep warm and dry. It’s naturally elastic, retains its shape, and can hold 30% of its weight in water.
One billion sheep are estimated to be reared worldwide, the majority from China and Australia. While conventional sheep rearing is associated with the release of methane gas, soil erosion due to grazing, and land clearance, HD Wool Apparel Insulation prioritises regenerative agriculture which involves practices such as rotational grazing, rest periods for fields, and hedgerow planting to improve biodiversity, soil quality and water infiltration, and sequester carbon.
Mulesing, the practice whereby the skin is removed from the hindquarters of a sheep, is a common practice, however, in tracing its wool back to the farm, HD Wool Apparel Insulation can be guaranteed as non-mulesed, overcoming a significant animal welfare concern attributed to wool products.
HD Wool has partnered with a number of brands in using wool insulation to reduce the use of fossil fuels. The North Face, Purdey, 7L and HAJK have all used HD Wool Apparel Insulation in their garments. British outdoor brand Finisterre won a Gold ISPO Outstanding Award in the Insulation Apparel Category for using the solution in its Biosmock.
In 2019, Sky Ocean Ventures – a GBP 25 million (USD 30.5 million) impact fund designed to support businesses which can help solve the oceans plastic crisis – invested in HD Wool Insulation.

A sheet of insulated wadding / Source: Finisterre

Raw wool ready to be processed / Source: HD Wool

KEY FACTS:

75-200g

The wool insulation is available in weights from 75 to 200 grams per square metre

57mn tns

Currently, polyester represents 52% of all global fibre production, with around 57 million tonnes produced annually

Key Questions to Ask:

Do you need water-repellent or waterproof features?

Wool is water-repellent, not waterproof. If you need full waterproofing for your designs, another material may be more suited for your insulation.

How do you plan to achieve the desired end-of-life outcome for your product?

Recycling and composting are the most desired outcomes for wool's end-of-life. But collection schemes have often failed in the past, or often aren’t even instituted. If you want the garment to be fully circular, how do you plan to facilitate it? Communication with your consumer will be key here.

Do you need your garments to be machine washable?

Machine washable is often a desired property for clothing but for an HD Wool product to be machine washable, it will incorporate PLA. Given that wool is naturally antibacterial, odour-resistant and stain-resistant, can you turn a materials change into a systems change too and educate your consumer on the damage caused by overwashing, and the benefits of alternatives such as airing and spot cleaning?

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