Merino Wool – Naturetexx Plasma Treatment

Merino Wool is a type of material that comes from the Merino Sheep and is renowned for its exceptional properties. Among these properties are its fantastic softness, shine and breathability. The fibres of Merino wool are softer, finer and more sensitive than many other fabrics. Common wool types are warm, durable, water repellent and naturally insulating, when adding the additional exceptional qualities of the Merino sheep you have the recipe for a world leading wool.

Despite a variation in grades among Merino Wool, the diameter of the wool is consistently microscopic, ranging from 11.5 microns to roughly 24 microns.  Thanks to selective breeding, the Merino Sheep is capable of producing this ultrafine wool, which is finer and of a higher quality than other types of wool.

Naturetexx Plasma Treatment

Wool has scales on the surface of the individual fibres that are grown in one direction. When untreated wool fabrics are washed, the heat and water allows these fibres to move. The scales allow fibres to move in one direction, but catch on each other to prevent them moving back creating a ratcheting effect that leads to felted, matted, and shrunken wool fabrics.

The exposure of the fibres to carefully calibrated plasma field oxidises the surface and creates tiny nano-scale holes in the surface of the fibre. These holes increase the surface friction of the whole fibre, without damaging the scales. This added friction stops the fibres from really moving at all, avoiding the ratcheting effect that leads to felting and shrinkage.