Wool is nature’s very own functional fabric, and so far, nobody has been able to reproduce a synthetic fibre with the unique properties of wool. Nature had actually solved the problem of freezing and sweating long before any of us started researching it.
We developed our Ullfrotté Original fabric in the early 1970’s in Östersund, Jämtland, Sweden. It’s hardwearing and is made up of fine merino wool, polyamide/polyester, and most of all – air!
80 PERCENT AIR
Air? You might be asking yourself. Yes, it’s not actually air that makes you lose heat so much. But fabric does. Our fabric is a terry-knit textile, with one side flat-knitted and the other made up of terry loops. The fabric’s fluffy terry loops combined with the wool’s crinkly fibres create a tricot that that traps a lot of air. In fact, 80 per cent of the fabric consists of air. The airy bodice has limited contact with the body, which means there are fewer points where the heat can escape. When you wear a Woolpower undergarment next to your skin, you can insulate your own body heat. The wider the layer of air you can keep around your body, the more heat you can retain.
At the same time, the fabric easily wicks moisture away from the body. When the body sweats, pressure increases inside the clothes. Moisture molecules strive to get out to where the air is cooler and pressure lower. If the fabric is sparse and the fibres have the right properties, they help transport the moisture away from the body. Ullfrotté Original helps to keep you warm even when the fabric is damp. And in contrast: when it’s warm outside, the undergarment keeps you cool for the same reasons. But since wool is a natural textile, it doesn’t smell, even after you’ve been sweating.
SOFT BUT STRONG
Merino wool is a very fine, soft and crinkly wool, perfectly suited for clothes that are worn next to the skin. The wool in Ullfrotté Original is 22 thousandths of a mm thick. That creates a comfortable wool, that’s also strong.
However, since merino wool is crinkly it isn’t so hardwearing. To ensure that the clothes we make are as hardwearing as possible, the wool is mixed with one-third synthetics. But closest to the body is mostly merino wool.
NATURAL BOBBLES
Once you’ve had your Woolpower garment for a while, you might notice that it becomes a bit bobbly. That’s nothing unusual can naturally be explained by the fact that we make our clothes from natural materials. The bobbles do not reduce the functionality in any way. We have chosen to retain the crinkly nature of the yarn, instead of brushing it out. We don’t spin the yarn so hard either and knit it finally as loosely as we can. All of that combined means that that material can become bobbly over time. But we do it that way to be able to trap as much air as possible in the garment to keep you warm. And also, it makes the material super stretchy and it never clingy.
