Why Wool Bedding is good for your health:

WOOL REGULATES TEMPERATURE AND MOISTURE

Wool fiber helps to keep your body at the optimal temperature zone for comfort and rest. Synthetic fibers, down and even cotton fibers do not breathe as well as wool, and are more likely to trap heat in your bed. Wool buffers the extreme cold or hot air on the outside, keeping your body in that comfort zone. Wool fiber is the original wicking fiber. It's coil-like shape pulls excess heat and moisture from your skin while you sleep. It helps your body to breathe away toxins.

SUSTAINABLE (and sometimes) CRUELTY FREE

Wool fiber is a renewable, sustainable product, harvested annually by shearing sheep. Not all wool farming is cruelty-free, but many small farmers do practice ethical and humane treatment of sheep for wool production. Unlike down and feathers, the Sheep's life is not sacrificed for it's coat. Though some people feel shearing sheep is "necessary", but that is still open for debate.

WOOL IS RESISTANT TO MILDEW

Mildew and mold won't grow on wool unless it's soaking in water with no air flow. Wool's natural resistance to mildews and molds comes from the way it repels moisture, and lets moisture pass through it's fibers without holding the moisture. Mildews and molds require moisture to live and grow, without it, they can't get a foot hold.

WOOL HELPS TO KEEP YOU DRY

Scientists at Polytechnic Institute in Wales tested wool and other fiber's effects on human beings as they slept. They monitored people's skin temperature, the temperature and humidity of the air next to the skin, and all sorts of other things. It turns out wool's ability to wick moisture away form your skin keeps your skin drier while you sleep than any of the other fibers tested. Remember, our bodies lose over one pint of water per night while sleeping.

WOOL HELPS KEEP YOUR HEART RATE LOW

The same study at the Polytechnic Institute in Wales showed wool-fill comforters had a lowering effect on sleeper's heart rates, as compared with feathers and other synthetic fibers which had no effect or increased the sleeper's heart rate. A lowered heart rate indicates the body is in a truly restful state. Wool l=not only lowered heart rates, but kept them at lowered rates while the sleeper's slept.

WOOL IS ALMOST ENTIRELY NON-ALLERGENIC

Although some people do have a rare natural allergy to Lanolin, the oil found in wool, most people's allergy to wool is a reaction to the many harsh, and toxic chemicals that go into the treatment, and finishing of conventional wool garments and bedding. Serious chemical abrasives are routinely used to wash raw wool for processing. Chlorine and Mothproofing chemicals are routinely applied to conventional wool before turning it into a finished product. The wool used in bedding sold at ahappyplanet.com is grown, washed and processed without any of these chemicals, and is therefore in a much more natural state, and will cause allergies very rarely.

WOOL IS DURABLE AND REUSABLE

Wool lasts longer and is more resistant to environmental degradation than most any other natural fiber on the planet. Even when soaking in water, wool retains it's warmth and resilience (springiness). Over time, wool batting will compress, but it does so less than other natural fibers. Wool can be freshened significantly simply by exposure to sunlight. Wool is completely re-usable if one were to remove the batting and re-process the fibers for a new product. This is why there are strict mattress label laws aimed at keeping used wool out of new products.

WOOL IS FLAME RESISTANT

Wool is naturally resistant to flames, and will not "catch fire". This makes wool the safest choice for bedding to guard against fire-related injuries. Even race car drivers wear a wool-lined suit to minimize the effects of flames in a crash.

WOOL CAN HELP SUPPORT SMALL FARMERS

Wool and milk from free-grazing sheep, treated ethically throughout their long lives, represents a traditional small-scale industry that once thrived in America. Today, many small organic farmers are re-igniting this sustainable industry to create a clean, healthy wool that is produced without stress to the animals or the environment, and which provides the farmers with a modest income

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