BENEFITS OF WOOL
WOOL AS HEALER: About the healing power of wool in the autobiography of Ann Wigmore, the great pioneer of wheatgrass and living foods ("Why Suffer? How I Overcame Illness and Pain Naturally", Avery, 1985). (page 15) “...I heard later about another of the methods my grandmother used when I was first entrusted to her care, in her effort to build my strength. At sheep-shearing time she would have the matted wool taken from a sheep intact. She would wrap me in this, and for three days I would be a sort of mummy with just my head protruding from the fleece.
This rather unusual treatment completely stopped my fits of coughing. She attributed special value to the oil of the wool, oil you could feel but could not see, though it did not make your hands greasy. This surface oil made it impossible for even a driving rain to reach the body of the sheep. "Something comes from the wool that helps sick human beings," she would say. She would often place it on an open sore or a wound, underneath the bandage. “
Here are a few reasons why wool-filled bedding is best for your health:
Wool Batting Insulates without sacrificing health and comfort. Wool's innate, coil-like structural design gives it the ability to insulate your body warmth while at the same time drawing away excess heat and moisture released through your skin. This supports your body's way of releasing toxins and creating optimal balance while you're asleep.
Wool maintains the optimal temperature zone for your body. Unlike down, cotton and synthetic fill, wool is constantly monitoring and responding to your body temperature changes, always keeping you in the 'comfort zone'. Warm, but not too warm. I have come to call wool the 'active fiber' as compared to 'passive' (cotton), because of its constant responsiveness to change. On the other hand, down and feather fill have a tendency to overheat.
Wool batting is lightweight and cruelty-free. Without sacrificing the life of the animal (as is almost always the case with down and feathers), we enjoy the benefits of the lightness of nature's coat for sheep with a simple, and necessary "haircut".
Wool is for all seasons. Regardless of even drastically changing external temperatures , a wool comforter will keep the temperature next to your body at the comfort level. We've all experienced the way wool keeps us warm when its cold, but few of us have experienced the way wool buffers extreme heat. The Bedouin desert tribes wrap themselves in wool to shield themselves from extremely high, life-threatening temperatures.
Wool keeps you dry. Scientific tests done at Polytechnic Institute in Wales have proven wool batting to be superior to all other commonly used batting materials (this includes down, cotton and all synthetic batting) in its way of dispensing with excess moisture. Again, it is the unusual coil-like fiber that is able to efficiently draw away moisture released through your skin.(The average person loses a pint of water per night! - this is the body busy cleaning itself out every night). Meanwhile you feel comfortably dry even when you have an unusually "sweaty" night.
Wool is mildew resistant. Not only is wool moving moisture out and away from you, but while holding moisture within itself, it will never mildew. This is an extremely important quality. Mold and mildew are considered one of the most detrimental irritants to the immune system. For this reason, cotton batting, though a natural, breathable fiber is not recommended for the sleeping environment - it will mildew if not kept absolutely bone dry.
Wool batting is resilient. Wool outperforms most other fibers in retaining its resilience. Amazingly, even when wet, it will retain some of its springiness. Some compression is to be expected with use. To bring back some of its original loft, sunning and airing will do wonders. Wool actually thrives on exposure to sun. (By contrast, synthetic materials are destroyed by the sun).
Wool batting won't shift. No shifting will occur because the curly wool fibers grab onto each other, keeping them from separating and maintaing an even layer of wool-fill with no cold spots as is common in down comforters.
Wool batting supports local wool-growers. Free-grazing sheep are an American resource. All the wool used, comes from live, healthy sheep, who graze freely from the hillsides and valleys of the Pacific Northwest. We are committed to rekindling a traditional American industry and nurturing a long-term relationship with local growers.
Wool is flame-resistant. Wool bedding is by far the safest choice at home and in institutional environments such as hospitals, hotels and schools to guard against the danger of fire. Wool simply will not sustain a flame. Head to toe wool suits are worn by race car drivers for the most complete protection against intense fire.
Wool-filled bedding reduces the heart rate. Tests done at Polytechnic Institute in Wales included the monitoring of the heartrate of individuals under a comforter filled with cotton, down, synthetic batting and wool. The heart rate under the wool comforter was consistently lowered and maintained this lower rate. The other fibers tested had no effect or adversely affected the heart-rate. From this, one can deduce that the wool-filled comforter induces a state of relaxation.
Wool batting is non-allergenic. 'EcoDomestic' wool batting is free of chemicals and bleaching. Often people who have had a past allergic reaction to wool, have reacted to the bleaching or the chemical process usually applied to the more processed forms of wool products. Almost everyone finds the 'EcoDomestic' wool-fill as pure as it gets.
The other important point is that wool actively releases its own organic scent as well as any other smells or spills, rendering itself quite neutral within a relatively short timespan. Exposure to sun neutralizes while at the same time revitalizes the wool fiber.
