Our Suppliers
We started Woolkind with a completely blank canvas, and thought hard about what mattered most to us when engaging with suppliers.Â
It goes without saying that quality is vital, but we also want to work with organisations that we genuinely like, and importantly those who care about the same things that we do (people, animals and the environment).
Our yarn producer
Without wool there would be no Woolkind. We love wool! It is naturally sustainable with so many useful qualities and practical properties.Â
The ability to trace all our wool back to individual farms (to ensure welfare standards are met) is vitally important to us. As is transparency over all stages of processing the wool. This rules out most commercial yarn spinners.
However, we knew almost instantly upon meeting our friends at Lanecardate, that our values aligned.
Lanecardate make all of our super soft merino wool. They are a 360-year-old family run business and are as focused on quality, sustainability and transparency as much as we are.
Lanecardate wash, comb, spin and dye all the wool in Biella in the north of Italy using environmentally friendly and low waste processes:
- they source their fibre from accredited farms using programs such as SustainaWOOL and RWS to ensure the animals have high welfare standards and where farmers do not practice mulesing
- the wool is spun using traditional methods without the use of chemical treatments to soften or protect the fibres
- their dyes are certified as free from harmful chemicals
- their dyeing process is certified to ensure there is no discharge of harmful substances back into the environment
- they collect and either reuse or sell 100% of their fibre waste to ensure a zero waste spinning process
- they save over 180,000 kg of CO2 per year using solar panels installed on the mill's roof
Our packaging supplier
First and foremost we hope you will find a way to reuse our packaging, but if not we've made sure our boxes, tissue, stickers and postage labels are all recyclable, and they're 100% compostable too.
Our compostable postage boxes are made by Barton Jones, a family owned packaging company based in Hertfordshire, UK.
Our label maker
We use 100% organic cotton clothing labels, manufactured for us by Hallmark Labels & Print, a(nother!) family owned business, based in Essex, UK.
The cotton they use is grown without toxic chemicals or pesticides that cause long-term damage to our environment. Growing organic cotton typically uses far less water than conventional cotton too, meaning this precious resource is saved throughout the harvesting process.
Our wood workshop
Moths love merino as much as we do, which is why it's important to do what you can to keep them away.
Our Woolkind Cedar Discs are an easy way to scare off the little critters naturally.
Hang them up with your knitwear, or fold them into your scarf. The cedar scent will deter the moths who eat wool fibres, ensuring your knitwear lasts a lot longer. They may need to be gently sanded every so often to refresh their scent.Â
Made from reclaimed cedar wood by our friends at The Workshop, Aberfeldy, a charity which offers training and employment opportunities to young people to help them gain practical and employment skills, empowering them to successfully find employment or further training.