Organic Woolens
Many of the Graig Farm Producer Group of farmers produce lambs. However, there is another very useful product of the sheep enterprise - wool.
Graig Farm has been pioneering the use of wool from organic sheep to produce garments and other products.
Some 8,000 chemicals are used in the modern textile industry. Many are highly toxic, and harmful to the environment. Organic wool minimises the use of chemicals
What is Organic Wool?
At present there are no EU Organic Standards for organic wool, however, the Soil Association have produced a set of rules covering all aspects of organic textiles. Our products are not certified, as they were produced whilst only draft standards were available.
Not only must the wool be from an organic sheep, but the system used for processing the wool - from fleece to finished garment - must also be carried out on organic lines. In the textile industry, something like 8,000 individual chemicals are used. It is the purpose of organic processing to reduce that to as few as possible, all of which must be shown to minimise their impact on both human health and the environment.
From shearing which is normally done in the late spring/early summer, the fleeces of wool are wrapped and stored. Each farm then has an allotted period to deliver their wool to the Wool Marketing Board, to which virtually all wool in the UK must be sold.
The Wool Board then grades the wool into various grades according to colour, thickness, and amount of fuzzy hemp in the fleece. The grade of the wool will be determined by the breed of the sheep.
Once graded, the wool is then sent to be processed. This is done separately to other non-organic wool, and consists of washing then forming the woollen fibres into a useable yarn.
For our current range of products, we have worked with a small woollen mill in West Wales, who then make various products for us. Again no chemicals are used. Indeed, at present no colours are used, but we are working on the use of natural dyes to produce a range of coloured yarns. This will be a future development. We also supply organically tanned fleeces, which are of superb quality, and the special tanning process minimises the impact on the environment.
Click here for the Graig Farm Woollens Range
Click here for our Organic Fleeces & Rugs
To visit our Organic Woolens in our online shop please click here
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