Silk Merino, Merino Wool

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Each merino creates about 5 garments a year. There are 60,000 follicles per square inch of skin, producing over 100 million individual fibres in each fleece. Join the fibres from 5 merinos end to end and you can tie a bow around the world.

Merino is much finer than traditional wool, and is technically more complex than synthetics.

Tiny overlapping scales case the fibre. They're hydrophobic (water resistant), like tiles on a roof. Inside it's a different story - the fibre is highly absorbent.

Merino is the most hydrophilic of all fibres and can absorb and release 10x more moisture than synthetics. Each fibre can absorb up to one third of its own weight in moisture without feeling clammy or wet to touch. Your Merino garment can then release this moisture into the atmosphere to keep you feeling warm and dry.

Compared to traditional wool, the merino fibre is a fraction of the diameter, which is one of the reasons why your Merino garment doesn't itch. The large scales on traditional wool act like barbs against sensitive skin. Merino feels like silk.

Synthetic fibres such as polypropylene or polyester have a much simpler structure. They are made from melting, extruding and setting a petrochemical-based product, similar to plastic. The fibre can't breathe, absorb or release moisture. When knitted into fabric, they are limited to one-way moisture movement, with limited breathability, which can create a chill zone when moisture sits on the outside of the fabric.

Merino has the ability to absorb and release moisture, to cool or warm the body, thus regulating temperature.

You'll warm up quickly but not overheat due to the exceptional breathability of the fabric.


	Merino is so warm because of the millions of tiny air pockets in the fabric, which trap air and lock in body heat.


	Your Merino can warm and cool your body by absorbing and releasing moisture.

		Your Merino garment also uses moisture to regulate temperature. When it's cold and damp a process called "heat sorption" kicks in where the fabric actually generates heat.

		In a warm environment your Merino garment will keep you cool through the process of "cooling by evaporation".

	Merino Synthetic	Merino is warmest by weight. Millions of tiny air pockets in the fabric trap air and lock in body heat to create a buffer zone against the cold. Warms you up quickly. You stay at a more even temperature even with stop/start activity in a cold environment. Synthetic fibres don't breathe so a calm steam bath feeling is more likely. The body has to sweat more to cool the body, which when wicked out as liquid moisture can create a chill zone.


	Each year the animal is shorn and returned unharmed to the hills.


	Your Merino will return over time to its consequent components.

	Moths love the keratin in wool. In Roman times, merino wool was so valued is said bare breasted virgins beat the surroundings bushes to destroy moth settlements, thus reducing the likelihood of an aerial attack. (Source: the Pocket Guide to Roman Moths.)


	The keratin in merino makes these garments naturally fire resistant so it wont melt or burn.


	Your Merino garment will protect you from the sun with a SPF (sun protection factor) ranging from 25 to 50+.


	When damp or wet your Merino garment will still keep you warm - synthetics can lose vital body heat when wet.