Wool with a Conscience - How Recycling Gives New Life to Old Fibres
One could argue that working with wool (natural wool) is in itself a sustainable material. However, don't underestimate the amount of resources required to craft the balls or skeins of yarn available at the craft shops or for the Wool Sweater at the boutique next door. In this post I will look at why it is important to recycle wool, what the process looks like and which brands already offer recycled wool. I will only focus on natural wool.
Why does it matter to recycle wool?
To answer that question it is important to know the differences of virgin wool and recycled wool.
Virgin wool
The production of wool is a resource-intensive process. It requires a huge amount of land for sheep releasing methane that leaves a huge carbon footprint right at the start of the production process. After the wool is sheared from the sheep, a water-intensive treatment process begins to clean, chemically treat and dye the fiber. Aside from the described excessive amount of water needed, the process is also heavily dependent on the amount of toxins used in it. Given the growing world population and demand, this will also leave an imprint on wool production. But there is a way to avoid overexploitation.
Recycled wool
Wool recycling has many environmental benefits and I will detail the process in the next paragraph. But fundamentally, the benefits of using the stuff you already have help limit animal cruelty, save on carbon emissions and water, and use toxic chemicals and dyes.
Eco wool
Eco wool is not recycled wool. The term is used to indicate that this wool is ethically sourced yarn that has not undergone any chemical treatment process. It is new wool with the least possible manufacturing influence. It's up to the knitter's preferences if she likes the feel and feel.
Upcycled wool
Some brands use this term interchangeably, but it refers to fabric that is cut into strips and then joined together or woven into a chainette-style yarn construction. It can be used for knitting, but is significantly heavier than recycled wool, making it well suited for home accessories.
How does recycling wool look like?
Although wool itself is already an extremely durable fibre and creates a long lifetime for a garment, there are ways to extend that lifecycle beyond the textile it first got used for. Keeping in mind the faster turning world and growing demands, it is inevitable to consider reusing existing materials over stressing the environment.
And this is how the magic works:
1. Sourcing
Pre- and post-consumer waste, as well as production leftovers and scraps get sorted by colour and composition. It is a manual labor, executed by highly skilled people being able to detect the composition simply by touching the fabric. This step eliminates the use of harmful chemicals and the resulting wastewater significantly (500 litres per 1kg yarn is saved!)
2. Shredding
Next, the sorted garments get shredded with mechanical shredding machines. The shredding happens in two steps, first through cuts and secondly through a grab and pull method, which chops the fabric even finer. Again this step is 100% chemical free and only a little amount of water is used. And already at this point it is fair to say that“new” recycled wool fibre is produced!
3. Washing
Laundry day! What else to say, the fibre gets a thorough cleanse before being processed further.
4. Carding
Now it is the turn of the carding machine which helps preparing the fibres for the spinning step. It disentangles, cleans and intermixes fibres to create a long continuous homogeneous web.
5. Spinning
And finally the carded fibres are drawn out, twisted into yarn and wound onto bobbin.
Where to shop for recycled yarn online?
Animal based- Wool
Wool and the gang
The online store with the broadest variety of recycled wool that I was able to find is Wool and the gang. All yarns are crafted from excess fibres such as leftover tops and waste generated whilst spinning yarn in the suppliers factory. Most excitingly for me was to see that the Back for good cashmere is 100% recycled. Definitely will cast on one of my future projects with some of that yarn!
Cascade Yarns
The second biggest offer on recycled yarn can be found on Cascade Yarns with their ReFine and Revive yarns. Post consumer waste gets recycled in this Superwash merino blend and 100% worsted wool.
Knit Picks - KnitPicks.com
This might be the most affordable recycled wool you can find on the market right now. Knit Picks offers a Sports Blend and Worsted Alpaca Blend and Suri Alpaca. Again it is made of mill leftover from the virgin yarn production but different to the Wool and the gang and Cascade Yarns it contains to a third of synthetic recycled fibres. It is promoted as a limited-edition yarn and I really hope it will be considered to join the major staple yarn that they offer (which is very affordable!).
Others:
Sandnes Garn - Tweed Recycled
This beautiful tweed blend of 80% merino and cashmere holds a special place in my heart. Might be my hidden love for anything that is tweed, although I hardly own anything myself. Will keep this yarn in mind for a future project that I will be casting on in this year for sure!
Rico Design Essentials - Rico Design Essentials Cashmere Recycled dk 25g 70m
This 95% cashmere wool blend is another highlight for me. It is made of excess fibres from cashmere textile production, which gets carefully brushed and spun back into a delightful DK yarn. For the time being it is a tough one to get your hands on if you life in North America. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that this will change!
Lion Brand Yarns - Re-Tweed Yarn
This is a sweet 40% wool tweed blend in a lovely colour pallet. There are not many details shared on the website about how the recycling process for the yarn production is taking place.
Plant based - Cotton
Compared to the wool and wool blends, there is a vast offer on recycled cotton yarns. I will list them based on their blend percentage.
100% cotton
We love yarn - Recycled Cotton from We Love Yarn
Paintbox - Paintbox Yarns Recycled Cotton Worsted
Wool and the gang - Billie Jean Yarn
95% cotton 5% other fibres
We are knitters - The recycled yarn
70% cotton 30% other fibres
Lion Brand Yarns - Re-Up Bonus Bundle® Yarn
Less than 70% cotton
Berroco - Berroco Remix®
Recycling wool is not a new idea and the knowledge about the process has been passed down since generations. This circular economy practice has been performed on an industrial scale since the 19th century in areas like Prato, Italy.
Let me know if you have any experience with recycled yarn already and if you would be interested in learning more about that topic.