Is fake wool fleecing customers?

"I didn't like it," said Ben Moir. "It was flowery as all hell ..." The James Dunlop Textiles chief executive called Consumer NZ to apologise about a fabric available for purchase through his company’s website. He wasn’t happy. "I thought, 'God, did we write that crap?'," he said. "It's a bit naff."

The fabric is called "Fleece”. It’s part of the "homestead" collection; the colour is described as “merino”. According to its description, inspiration came from "the abundance of sheep that roam vast New Zealand plains". At a cursory glance, it seems the fabric is made from wool shorn straight from a sheep.

Yet Fleece doesn't contain a single strand of wool; it’s made entirely of plastic – polyester, to be exact. When Consumer got in touch to point this out and ask if James Dunlop Textiles was bending the truth, Moir immediately ‘fessed up. "Clearly, we've played on words," he said and vowed to change things.

Moir grew up “… just south of Mount Cook on a sheep and cattle station." He listed his company's environmental credentials - including recycling initiatives, 100% wool carpet trials and his support of local wool companies - as proof he's trying to do the right thing.

Yet, for months, Moir’s company's been promoting fabric in a way he agreed is misleading. If James Dunlop Textiles is doing it, how many others are engaging in the growing phenomenon known as "wool washing" – the practice of taking the attributes of wool to make synthetic products seem like they came straight off a sheep’s back?

The benefits of wool

Ask Kara Biggs what’s so great about wool and she can barely pause for breath. "Wool fibres last longer. It's natural, it's renewable, it's biodegradable, it's safe. It’s naturally flame resistant. It's incredible for insulation, moisture regulation and odour regulation. It keeps you warm.” Finally, she inhaled. “There are so many incredible benefits."

As the general manager of Campaign for Wool NZ, Biggs’ job is to educate people and advocate for the use of wool products. Under the Australia/New Zealand Standard 1994 rules for textiles, only products made using "hair of the sheep" can be described as “wool”. The definition is clear. Anyone caught doing anything else could be in breach of the Fair Trading Act.

Yet Biggs has witnessed a growing trend, with terms like “wool”, “merino”, “fleece” and “homespun” being used to describe what are essentially plastic and polyester products.

“… every company wants their products to be seen as environmentally friendly – even if they’re not,” she said. “[and wool] denotes … premium-ness. It's false advertising. … What they're actually doing is … confusing consumers, and confused consumers don't make informed decisions,” said Biggs. “Consumers deserve to know exactly what they're purchasing and not to be hoodwinked into paying more.”

We went looking for companies who seemed to be doing exactly that. It wasn't hard to find them.

Pulling the wool over our eyes

The Jacket Maker

During Black Friday sales, the website for the New Zealand branch of The Jacket Maker listed two standout items: the Thomas Black Wool Jacket and the Detective Black Wool Jacket.

According to the company’s website, these jackets offer the "finest raw materials,". "We don’t use anything but only the best possible materials," it claims.

However, scroll down to the descriptions for both jackets, and you'll find they're made of "synthetic wool" and "polyester lining". Neither contain real wool, yet both used the word in their name.

The Jacket Maker didn’t respond to our request for comment.

Hallensteins

The menswear store has one product that uses the word wool: a Textured Wool Blend Overcoat in Charcoal. The shell is 10% wool and 90% synthetic. The lining is 100% polyester.

Hallensteins didn’t respond to our request for comment.

Lou Dunedin

The website for Lou Dunedin appears to be run from Germany. Until recently, it listed the Cheska Long Vegan Wool Jacket Coat for sale, which came with the description, “Fight the cold with the comfort of vegan wool.” Nowhere on the listing did Lou Dunedin admit vegan wool is 100% synthetic.

Lou did not respond to our request for comment. Shortly after we sent our inquiry, its website closed.

I Love Ugly

Through its website, the local fashion label I Love Ugly promotes a pair of charcoal “wool” pants called the Slim Kobe that is 50% wool and 50% polyester. It also promotes a vintage grey Luca wool cap that is 30% wool and 70% polyester.

Until recently, it also offered the Carson Wool Jacket, a blend of 30% wool and 70% polyester. I Love Ugly didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment. Following our inquiry, the Carson Wool Jacket was removed from sale.

Barkers

The upmarket fashion store for men sells several products that are named after wool: the Cambria Wool Bomber jacket, the Monmouth Wool Coat and the Lawson Wool Bomber jacket. Yet all of these products are blends, containing up to 50% recycled polyester. Barkers didn’t respond to a request for comment.

When asked for comment, Barkers said, “We are not wool washing. As far as we’re aware, it is acceptable in New Zealand to lead with the main fibre from a fabric composition in a garment description. … We are in no way trying to make false claims, we never reference ‘Pure Wool’ or ‘100% Wool’ unless it is the case ….”

James Dunlop

Ben Moir’s textile company has been operating since 1907 and sells a range of fabrics “inspired by our Antipodean heritage, our New Zealand landscape and lifestyle”.

Moir said a supplier had come up with the name for its “Fleece” fabric, but after Consumer got in touch, he decided he didn’t like it and said he’d consider changing it. When Consumer checked before the deadline for this article, it hadn’t changed.

The impacts for real wool

Angus Hansen’s association with wool goes back decades, and generations. “We've been in the wool industry for over 130 years,” says the co-founder and operations manager at Wisewool. At a purpose-built factory in Te Poi, in the Waikato, Wisewool crafts what it calls “superwool” that’s used mostly in bedding. Hansen admits it’s a small company, but it wants to grow by raising awareness of the benefits of wool.

Hansen’s watched the state of wool rise and fall and rise again in Aotearoa. “Right now,” he said, “it can be a struggle”, pointing to the recent refusal of the Crown agency Kāinga Ora Homes and Communities to use wool carpets in their new housing, and the decision to use synthetic carpet in 600 rural schools as further blows. “The wool industry just keeps getting smacked in the face,” he said.

Hansen doesn’t like wool blends, which add synthetic fibres to wool, diminishing wool’s best attributes. It may also make it harder to recycle the product at the end of its life. “You're adding that polyester fibre, which doesn't absorb moisture, it doesn't regulate heat or temperature, it doesn't do all the things that the miracle fibre wool does,” he said. “When you blend it, its attributes go out the window.”

But his biggest bugbear is wool washing. Like Biggs, he’s seen its use increasing in the industry. “Am I seeing it more? Yes. Is it frustrating? Absolutely.

“When customers hear the word ‘wool’, they’re expecting … a product that is wool. They're picturing natural, and a lot of companies aren't actually offering that. …. It's definitely frustrating, for sure, that people get away with that kind of wool washing.”

Like Biggs, Hansen believes education and raising awareness would help. But prosecuting those trying to claim the benefits of wool without using it would draw a line in the sand.

How to spot wool washing

• Check the specifications of the item you’d like to buy; they should be clearly displayed in the store, online, or on the item’s label. If in doubt, ask the retailer or manufacturer for exact details of what the product is made of.

• Products that are called “synthetic wool” or “vegan wool” do not contain wool.

• Products described as a “wool blend” may contain some wool that has been mixed with synthetics. Check the label for the percentage – it may affect how the product functions, and whether or not it can be recycled at the end of its life.

How to lay a complaint

• If you’ve purchased a product you were led to believe was made of wool and isn’t, you’re entitled to a refund from the manufacturer.

• We believe synthetic products that use the word “wool “in their description breach the Fair Trading Act. If the retailer won’t budge, consider laying a complaint with the Disputes Tribunal.

• If you want to take it further, you can complain to the Commerce Commission.