THE BENEFITS OF MERINO WOOL
Wool is valued for its softness and comfort.
Merino Sheep have natural oils called Lanolin. Lanolin has natural, antibacterial properties that help to protect the sheep's skin from infections. Most of the merino clothes we wear contain less than 1% lanolin. This amount is enough to provide the beneficial effects of merino wool, without giving a greasy feeling on the skin.
RAW MATERIAL
The raw wool comes from the merino sheep.
Rhea source their wool via the NATIVA group, from a certified farm called Estancia La Magdalena (a family-owned farm) in the North of Uruguay.
THE FABRIC
Combing mill
After the wool is sourced, it is transported to certified combing mills. The greasy wool is washed, classified and dried. Ready to be combed into wool tops.
Spinning mill
Wool tops are turned into yarns by certified spinners. Carefully testing for elasticity and resistance, wool fibers are combined to form the perfect yarn.
Garment manufacturing
The yarn is knitted into a fabric. The knitted fabric becomes a garment.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
All breeds of sheep are usually treated with pesticides to control parasites, which are applied directly on the fleece or by bathing the sheep into chemical solution pools. Unfortunately, this is causing a large amount of wastewater.
Rhea sources their wool via the NATIVA™ group, where traceability, sustainability, animal welfare and corporate social responsibility are key. To ensure this, they developed The NATIVA™ Protocol. Read more about NATIVA Protocol here. .
In this protocol, you can read that farmers shall use the minimum amount of pesticides to adequately control the pest burden on their farms. For the use of pesticides, the farmer must have an integrated pest management plan based on the principles of prevention, observation, monitoring of crops, pastures, and parasites, and also within the thresholds of pesticide use for each pest.
Rhea works with Blockchain Technology as a tool to guarantee traceability and transparency along the entire value chain, read more about here.
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