Inspired by our surroundings to use Donegal merino wool

Plans for the future

In recent months, we have been looking at what we offer our customers. Since the formation of Swizzle and friends, we have adopted the ethos of working with sustainable methods production. So, for example, in our beeswax products, such as the wraps and blocks to make the wraps, the main ingredient – beeswax – has come from sustainable sources where the bees are not harmed when the wax is extracted.

We have also minimised our use of single use plastic, so whenever our products have to be sent out in clear packaging, it is in a bag made from corn starch, which is biodegradable and can be placed on the home compost heap.

Many of our products, though they may take more energy to produce them as they are made from more durable material, such as our leak-resistant lunchboxes and insulated water bottles, the idea is that they have a longer life. Of course, this means that it will be much longer before they need to be replaced, which again ties in with our ethos of not adding to a what many perceive as a throwaway society.

New lines introduced

And with this in mind, we started production of Swizzle Socks in the autumn of 2020, which are made of wool. We have written about wool before and what a great sustainable material it is, with its many different uses.

And since then, we have taken an extra step with our woollen products, with the introduction of our Inspired By... range.

Living in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, it is easy to be inspired by our surroundings, so we created a selection of products to reflect this. With each one, we look at a photograph of the inspiring scene, for example, the Regency setting of Sidmouth, and pick out five colours from the picture.

 At the moment, the range includes infinity scarves and wrist warmers and there are plans to add woollen hats to it as well.

Benefits of Donegal merino wool

But with each of these products, which are all worn close to the body, we have opted to use Donegal merino wool, which is beautifully soft and does not have that itchy quality that is associated with some other wools.

It has other benefits, such as aiding temperature regulation by wicking away moisture from the skin, helping the wearer to stay dry, and also allowing it to evaporate without the problems of allowing odour to develop.  

Another plus side of merino wool, is that as it gets washed, the softness increases, as does its density. Before each garment is sent out, it will have been washed once at 40C to remove any dressing that was added to the yarn to make it easier to work with, and to allow any shrinkage to take place.

Exciting times

We are really excited about our latest range, so much so, that we invested in 54 different colours of the Donegal merino wool, so we can match them as closely as possible to the shades of the landscape.

To read more about the benefits of using merino wool, click here.