Most tailors will tell you that they love working with wool.
From a craft perspective, wool is a wonderful material to work with, as it takes shape well and sews beautifully.
Wool is a beautiful natural fiber whose crimped texture makes it breathable while allowing it to absorb and release moisture explains the Campaign for Wool.
Wool a "hygroscopic" fiber, meaning it is constantly reacting to the wearer's body temperature, cooling the body in warm temperatures and warming it in cool temperatures. It's natural elasticity gives wool garments "the ability to stretch comfortably with the wearer," but then "return to their natural shape, making them resistant to wrinkling and sagging."
Due to its waxy coating, wool fibres makes wool products highly resistant to staining and easy to clean.
From an ecological perspective, wool has a smaller carbon footprint then all other textile fibers (with the exception of hemp.)
Wool is an entirely natural, renewable product, that is fully biodegradable yet is very durable. Wool requires no pesticides to grow.
While some complain of the scratchy, coarseness of wool, it is important to point our that there are numerous types of wool (some courser and scratcher that others) all with different use cases.
When using wool for coating it is the fiber's micron (diameter) and length that determines its softness.
Animal Welfare continues to be an important factor when searching for ethical wool. As the Honest Consumer explains. "If wool shearing is done right, the fleece comes off as one piece and the animal remains unharmed in the process with the sheep not feeling any pain." For these reasons it is important to look for wool that is certified by the RWS (Responsible Wool Standard) or a third party.
Although the outerwear market is currently dominated by polyester, down coats, wool coats continue to be a classic wardrobe staple that in many cases can be passed down through generations regardless of fashion trends.
