Woolchemy NeweZorb is an ultra-absorbent, breathable textile that can absorb over 10 times more moisture than its original weight while still feeling dry and comfortable. It offers an alternative to synthetic textiles in hygiene applications, such as diapers (nappies), incontinence and feminine hygiene products. Image Woolchemy.
The Quilton Lift daybed by Doshi Levien for Hay is upholstered with a fabric made up of 33% acrylic, 30% wool, 29% cotton, 7%
polyester and 1% viscose. The padding is polyurethane resin (PUR) foam.
Clouds by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Kvadrat. An innovative, interlocking fabric tile concept for the home made with napped wool fabric surrounding a polyethylene (PE) foam core.
Clouds by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Kvadrat. An innovative, interlocking fabric tile concept for the home made with napped wool fabric surrounding a polyethylene (PE) foam core.
Woola develop recycled wool based textiles that provide an alternative to plastic bubblewrap for packaging delicate items during transportation. The recycled wool fibres are bound with a small proportion of polylactic acid (PLA), which the company are phasing out to go plastic free. Image Woola.
Climatex LifeCycle fabrics by Rohner Textil. These compostable textiles made up of wool and ramie, developed by MBDC (William McDonough and Michael Braungart), are the result of a long process of removing all toxic ingredients from the fibre production. Until then, Rohner Textil had been forced to treat product scraps as hazardous waste due to the use of problematic and hazardous dyes that were regulated in Switzerland.
Camelux is a high performance nonwoven insulation made by Imbotex Lab using waste camel hair mixed with recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET). Image Imbotex Lab.
A selection of Kvadrat 'regenerative' wool-based upholstery textiles with a minimum of 80% renewable contents. Sisu by Nanna Ditzel and Danh Võ made with 91% Norwegian wool, 8% New Zealand wool and 1% polyamide (PA), nylon. Ria by Raf Simons made with 96% wool, 12% viscose and 4% nylon. Vidar 4 by Fanny Aronsen made with 94% wool and 6% nylon. Hallingdal 65 by Nanna Ditzel made with 70% wool and 30% viscose. Twill Weave by Jonathan Olivares made with 90% wool and 10% nylon. Serpentine by Giulio Ridolfo made with 98% wool and 2% nylon.
A densely woven Axminster carpet, produced with a mix of wool and polyamide (PA), nylon, to take advantage of the benefits of both. Synthetic fibre also tends to be less expensive than wool, and so blending the two helps to bring the price down, but maintain a durable floor covering.
DSB train seating, featuring wool and pigmented cowhide leather upholstery over moulded polyurethane resin (PUR) foam. The materials used in public transport must meet strict flame and emissions requirements. For example, the leather is treated during tanning to enhance flame retardancy. Flammable parts, such as wood, parts must be below a certain size and weight, so as not to contribute to a potential fire.
Lavanlan insulation produced with virgin wool. Providing an alternative to synthetic fibrefills it is used in a range of applications including jackets, gloves, ski bags, sleeping bags, ski helmets and home textiles. It is mixed with polylactic acid (PLA), biodegradable polyester, to provide a durable nonwoven structure.
Yak wool in its natural colours before being processed into yarn or textile. In the spring, yak khullu (soft undercoat) is removed by hand combing, not shearing. It is sorted by quality and colour, de-haired to remove the long stiff fibres, and washed. Younger yaks have the softest and most desirable fibre – each animal yields between 100-125 g of soft fibre. It is equivalent to the finest wool in terms of softness, breathability and temperature regulation. Avoiding bleaching and dyeing eliminates the chemicals and pollution associated with these industrial processes – it is naturally light brown, dark brown and grey.
Johnstons of Elgin scarf woven from vicuña. Hunted virtually to extinction, vicuña is a rare and expensive fibre. Today it is sourced from both farmed and wild animals. It is soft, strong and resilient, with exceptional insulating properties.
Bell & Ross BR 126 Heritage watch featuring a curved anti-reflective sapphire window, CNC machined steel body and calfskin leather strap. The steel is coated black by physical vapour deposition (PVD), to create a very durable colour finish. Image Bell & Ross.
Coyote fur - as well as racoon dog, wolf and fox - is used to line to hoods of parka arctic jackets, using a technique that dates back to early man, to help keep a warm pocket of air around the face and so stop the skin freezing.
Fox fur, such as used to trim parka hoods, hats, scarves and stoles, is taken from farmed animals. It is soft and long, up to 70 mm long, with distinctive straight guard hairs protruding from the soft undercoat. Depending on the breed, colour ranges from silver to white, red and black.
Raccoon dog fur, such as used to trim parka hoods, has clearly distinguished guard hairs that stand long and stiff above the dense and insulating undercoat.
Rabbits are farmed for their fur. The hair on a mature animal is up to around 20 mm long and the undercoat around half that. It is very soft and insulating - the highest quality fur comes from their winter coats. They are small and so typically used for trim and linings. Rabbit is relatively cheap and so used to mimic the appearance of more expensive furs, like mink and sable, by dyeing and painting.
Seal skin slippers by Great Greenland. The sealskin is caught, tanned and produced in Greenland. The Ringed seal's natural colour is light grey with very notable markings along the ridge which can vary from light grey to almost black.
Leather processed from the skin of Tilapia (tilapiine cichlid tribe), a fresh water fish. Fish skin leather is a by-product of the edible fish industry. The texture of the leather depends on the size and shape of the scale pockets which vary from 2 to 20 mm depending on the species.
Utrecht armchair, by Gerrit Thomas Rietveld for Cassina, 1935, consists of a steel frame, polyurethane padding and blanket stitched pigmented leather upholstery.
Addition Sofa, designed by Kaare Klint for Carl Hansen & Søn, 1933, features button tufted aniline leather upholstery and oak legs. Over time, the high quality aniline has developed a rich patina, becoming darker with age.
Louis Vuitton Keepall Bandoulière 50 in embossed leather, with cowhide trim. It is made with taurillon leather, a natural grain calfskin with semi-aniline finish - it has a thin protective coating to help protect it from wear and staining.
This Louis Vuitton Keepall Bandoulière 55 is made with canvas and cowhide trim. The canvas is cotton coated with polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which is printed and embossed to look like leather. The plastic coating provides an extremely durable and long lasting finish, and is much less expensive than leather. The leather trim is left untreated. Known as vachetta leather, it is vegetable tanned and retains the natural colour of the skin. Over time, it has developed a rich patina.
Knepp Rivet Stool by Bill Amberg Studio. The cowhide is vegetable tanned and is from Knepp’s free-roaming longhorn cattle, a re-wilding project in the UK. It has has been tanned using tree bark, the surface left intact to retain all the natural features and blemishes, and finished with wax. The surface will form natural patination with use.
Evermemor by Ecco Leather is a premium full grain cowhide that is tanned and retanned with wax to give it memory. Washing the leather with wax added to the water means it penetrates deep below the surface of the skin. This gives the leather a kind of memory - all the creases and wrinkles are visible on the surface, creating a rich patina over time that develops with use. It is suitable for footwear, clothing and luggage, for example. Image Ecco.
Bridles for horses, including the headgear and buckled straps, is made with cowhide taken from the bend (butt). This part of the animal produces the strongest and thickest leather.
Button tufted semi-aniline cowhide upholstery on a traditional chesterfield sofa. The surface pigmentation and coating has protected the leather, allowing a light patina to develop over time.
Vegetable tanned leather left untreated, also called vachetta leather and used by luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, retains the natural colour of the skin. Over time, it develops a patina and becomes darker and richer. In this case, the leather that has been exposed to the light has become darker, revealing the contrast between new and old.
Spot Material is a database of materials for sustainable design, curated by Rob Thompson. Compare properties, carbon and end of life, find better alternatives and discover new material innovations. Browse all materials
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