… we always mean natural fibers at hessnatur. That doesn’t appear to be the standard definition for the mainstream, however. A common definition that I’ve been running into lately is, “A collective term for high-tech fabrics with innovative material properties, delivering an added benefit to the consumer.”

High-tech, they say. And then only with “added benefit”. Hmm. We see that a bit differently here at hessnatur, and over the next few weeks we’d like to introduce to you a few natural “functional fibers” which have had great “added benefit” for both ourselves and you, our customers.

Wool fleece is one of those remarkable natural materials. Although it has nothing to do with high-tech at all, the fabric inherently provides several extremely useful properties. I’m sure you’re all familiar with wool fleece’s synthetic cousins: polar fleece & co. They keep you warm, dry quickly, and are robust, yes. But they are manufactured from synthetic fibers and therefore an undesirable alternative for those who prefer wearing natural textiles.

hessnatur’s wool fleece is produced from pure, certified organic Merino wool, which has an intrinsic “added benefit” right from the start: sheep’s wool can hold up to 30% of its weight in moisture without feeling wet. It’s a great advantage, especially when you’re involved in sports that get you sweating sporadically. Whether you’re hiking or bicycling, your inner motor is working flat out when you climb a mountain. You sweat. If that moisture stays against your skin when you’re going down the other side, or stopping for a lunch break , you’ll cool down too far and to fast. Pure sheep’s wool protects you from that moisture. Add to that the fact that wool, as an animal product, behaves similarly to our own skin, making wool fleece so wonderfully agreeable. The processing of our fleece, by the way, is done entirely by mechanical means – no chemicals – a real hessnatur breakthrough.

Meanwhile, word is getting around in the sportsman’s scene that natural fibers can also be functional fibers. That’s not “eco” for us – it’s simply self-evident.
What sort of experiences have you had with our wool fleece? We’d like to know.

Make a comment here, or post it on Facebook – we look forward to your own “true life” stories.

Tags: Functional Fibres

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 20th, 2011 at 1:12 pm and is filed under Collection, Design, Material. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.