Why Use British Wool?
Posted on 13 January 2017
Our cushions are made traditionally, the way cushions used to be made. They're sewn in Yorkshire at our partner studio The Pin House and stuffed in Sussex with pure sheep's wool from the UK.
One of our suppliers is a mill on North Ronaldsay, the most northerly of the Orkney Isles. The sheep on the island are extremely hardy and mainly eat seaweed! Using this wool means we're supporting a long neglected industry of small independent Orkney farmers. It feels good to avoid importing wool unnecessarily.
Until the 1990s it was considered uneconomic to process the clipped fleeces of the sheep on the island. Today The Orkney Sheep Foundation work hard to maintain a small cottage industry in spun wool and byproducts, which are processed by Jane Donnelly at her lighthouse mill.
We also love British wool because it means we can easily avoid chemicals and live-plucked feathers. Making the cushion pads ourselves in Sussex means we know exactly what goes in; clean, healthy wool. Synthetic fillers like polyester hollow fibre fillings aren't used in our studio because they're not from a renewable source. Polyester can also be set on fire too easily, and the chemicals in it have been linked to various illnesses. We think that when you're spending your hard earned money on a luxury cushion, it shouldn't be full of polyester!
You can find out a bit more about how we make our cushions, scarves and clothing, HERE. If you'd like to know more, please get in touch here or on social media using the links below.
