Why do we use only British wool in our wool products?

Wool is a remarkable 100% natural product. It’s sustainable, environmentally-friendly and has a number of beneficial properties that make it a wonderful filling for our 100% natural bedding products. Sheep are farmed for the production of wool all over the world - but we never use anything other than top grade, certified 100% British wool.

We do this for a number of reasons. Firstly, British wool has always been considered to be of very high quality. The British wool manufacturing industry dates back to around 1900 BC and when the Romans arrived, they so valued the Britons’ wool weaving skills that in 50 AD they established a wool plant in Winchester. In mediaeval times, many towns across Britain increased their wealth through the wool trade. In fact, by 1660 two-thirds of England’s foreign commerce was based on wool textiles.

Today, sheep farming and wool production in the UK is governed by strict animal welfare regulations. These are set by DEFRA (the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs), the governing body that enforces the standards for animal welfare, working together with British Wool who set the standards for wool quality.  Shearing only takes place in Spring and Summer, when the sheep need to have their fleeces shorn. At Devon Duvets, we buy British wool because we are committed to only buying products that we know to come from responsible and ethical sources, as well as being fully traceable and, therefore, from farmers whom we know. 

Buying 100% British wool means a lower carbon footprint. We also clean the wool, without chemicals or bleach, in British mills and it is then brought to our workshops in Devon, where each wool product is individually handcrafted by our highly skilled seamstresses. We do not send our wool products abroad to be manufactured. We want our products to be made right here, on the spot, so that we can guarantee quality and that no other wool, other than 100% British wool, is used.

Last, but by no means least, because of our on-going strict adherence to the high standard of British wool that we buy, who we buy it from and right down to how it is cleaned and turned into the fluffy filling for our duvets, mattress toppers and pillows, we have been awarded certification by British Wool. We’re naturally proud of this because this means we can display it on all our packaging and include it in our marketing. However, most importantly, it means that when you buy from us, you can be 100% confident that you are getting a British wool product, that’s made here in the UK. 

In a nutshell, we are a British business, buying British wool and supporting British farmers. If you have any queries about our 100% British wool products, please do get in touch.