Bingen

About

Bingen is a soft, lightweight yet thick, undyed wool for upholstery, drapery (reduce your electric bill!), blankets, coats, dresses, suits, capes, hats, scarves.

Eco Facts

As with all our wool fabrics, they are non-mulesed. What is mulesing and why would I want to insist on non-mulesed wool? One of the animal husbandry issues unique to sheep is the practice of mulesing. Sheep which are raised in certain climates (as much of Australia) are susceptible to a condition called "fly-strike." What is fly-strike? A certain type of fly, called blow flies, lay eggs on sheep's back legs when the sheep are less than clean. When the flies hatch, these maggots burrow in any slightly raw or inflamed area and literally eat their victim alive. To control this condition herders "mules" the sheep, which means cutting away large swaths of the skin on their hindquarters and back legs that is susceptible to the borrowing maggots. Mulesing is traditionally done without anesthetics, and is inhumane. Our wool is from tiny ranchers in Uruguay, who have never needed to mules sheep as fly-strike is unknown in Central and South America. 

Another note about wool:
It came as a real revelation to this city girl that large grazing animals are a vital and necessary part of the solution to climate change. Sheep can actually help to improve soils, which improves the soil's ability to absorb water and maintain its original nutrient balance —and most importantly, by increasing the organic matter in the soil, it makes the soil a highly effective carbon bank. It's a complicated situation and we invite you to read more and comment on our blog: oecotextiles.wordpress.com/?s=wool.

Fabric Name

If you're a kite surfer or windsurfer, you know Bingen. In the heart of the Columbia River Gorge, Bingen is a town just east of Vancouver, Washington. Home to a unique geological wonder called "Coyote Wall", a steep massive basalt cliff, rising to 1,800 feet.

Care

Professional green cleaning is ideal for this wool. If you must wash it yourself, hand wash in cool temperatures; shrinks 15% the first time you wash, even in cool temperatures.