The Future of Sustainable Materials: Bison Wool

Whether in the form of super-soft bison "down" or ultra-insulating guard hairs, this meat industry byproduct deserves to be salvaged rather than sent to landfill.Author:Whitney BauckUpdated:Nov 27, 2019Original:Nov 27, 2019As sustainability becomes an increasingly pressing priority in fashion and beauty, materials with a minimal ecological impact are being sought out by a range of brands looking to shrink their environmental footprints.

"Basically, we take the hide, rescue the fiber from landfills or from being burned, and then return the hides to the meat processing plants so they can pass them on to tanneries," says Brendan Rauth, senior apparel designer at United by Blue, on the phone. "We did that primarily to keep the desirable fiber from being wasted."

"It's pretty much the equivalent of cashmere," says Rauth of bison down. "It's really a luxury fiber. It has all the benefits you would get from super fine wool like cashmere." How is it produced?Unlike sheep or goats, which can be shorn regularly throughout their lives, "bison are not super interested in holding still to be sheared," Rauth says. As a result, the fiber can only be gathered as a step prior to tanning the hides for leather.

The other difficulty is the inconsistency of yield. Because bison fiber is collected at the end of the animal's life, rather than regularly throughout it, it's much harder to estimate how much fiber will be available, which makes it harder to plan how much product you can make with it.What's next for bison wool?Though bison wool is most often used for the down, United by Blue's incorporation of the guard hairs into insulation has proven that the fiber is more versatile than that.

Sheep wool is excellent as well. Wool and Leather last decades..

United States Latest News, United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge on Fleabag’s Future: “I Really, Honestly Don’t Know Where She Is”The Emmy-winner also weighs in on the Ferris Bueller conspiracy theories.
Source: VanityFair - 🏆 391. / 55 Read more »

Couple's Engagement, Wedding, & Pregnancy Announcement Pays Tribute to 'Back to the Future' TrilogyWhen these two decide on a theme, they go all in. Check out how this couple went 'back in time' to start their future.
Source: CafeMom - 🏆 701. / 51 Read more »

DC Films Plots Future With Superman, Green Lantern and R-Rated Movies (EXCLUSIVE)DC Films appears to have hit its stride, rebounding from the commercial failure of 'Justice League' and the critical drubbing of 'Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice' with a few well-timed box office successes. 'Aquaman' and 'Joker' both generated over $1 billion
Source: YahooNews - 🏆 380. / 59 Read more »

Elon Musk's tweets about Tesla's Cybertruck 'orders' tell us very little about actual future salesElon Musk tweets about Cybertruck 'orders' helped shares recover from 6% slide. But those were actually low-commitment, $100 refundable pre-orders. Someone tell the CNBC intern about public company disclosures Expect the breakage to be at least 15%... He took a page from Trump's handbook, he lied.
Source: CNBC - 🏆 12. / 72 Read more »

DC Films Plots Future With Superman, Green Lantern and R-Rated Movies (EXCLUSIVE)DC Films appears to have hit its stride, rebounding from the commercial failure of “Justice League” and the critical drubbing of “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” with a… Oh, man! We could have seen another bad movie but in a different way. At this point they might as well drop whatever version they have VFX done or not but be difficult I guess With NO actual word from anyone inside of the WB office, your article is invalid. ReleaseTheSnyderCut
Source: Variety - 🏆 108. / 63 Read more »

ELLE's First Ever Future of Beauty Awards Are HereFuture of Beauty: ELLE's first ever awards dedicated to the most exciting innovations in skin, hair, makeup products, and body treatments—plus the game changing beauty founders and experts to know now.
Source: ELLE Magazine (US) - 🏆 472. / 51 Read more »