closed thread about wool vs acrilic

[thistlespinner]

Hello all,
Newbie here & I guess I missed posting my 2 cents on wool, so not being a shy retiringsort, figured I'd do it now. Buy more wool and the price will come down. Buy my Shetland sheep wool and make your kilt yourself and it will quickly become apparent why the cost is so high. I'm in the middle of the US & hay is $8.00 a small bale. Other places are more expensive. The sheep are costly to raise, I have to work full time to afford mine & I only have 27. Some are Soays & it takes a lot of them to make enough wool to make a pair of socks. The processing of wool is costly to have done or a lot of time to do yourself. Then it has to be spun, woven & that's if you don't dye it. Buy more wool! If Prince Charles says so how can it be wrong!

[Farmer Jones]

From my point of view, wool is the "green" option and worth paying for. It is true that fibers made in chemical factories are cheaper in terms of individual pocketbook costs, but the overall cost will eventually be much higher for all of us. With wool products (take Harris Tweed as an example) you can have a sense of an individual person labouring over the production of your item, and it may even be possible to identify the individuals responsible for what you have. The problem arises when demand for inexpensive options is driven by people's inability to pay the true cost of ownership. I imagine that a majority of people would prefer wool over acrylic or poly-viscose, and would happily pay for woolen products, if they could. So you are stuck in a viscous circle. Many people would prefer to buy your wool and drive the prices down by creating a higher demand and more competition, but to do that larger numbers of people would have to be able to afford the wool in the first place. I hope that you have success with your sheep, because individual enterprise, like yours, keeps skills and knowledge alive.

[brewerpaul]

From my point of view, wool is the "green" option and worth paying for. It is true that fibers made in chemical factories are cheaper in terms of individual pocketbook costs, but the overall cost will eventually be much higher for all of us. With wool products (take Harris Tweed as an example) you can have a sense of an individual person labouring over the production of your item, and it may even be possible to identify the individuals responsible for what you have. The problem arises when demand for inexpensive options is driven by people's inability to pay the true cost of ownership. I imagine that a majority of people would prefer wool over acrylic or poly-viscose, and would happily pay for woolen products, if they could. So you are stuck in a viscous circle. Many people would prefer to buy your wool and drive the prices down by creating a higher demand and more competition, but to do that larger numbers of people would have to be able to afford the wool in the first place. I hope that you have success with your sheep, because individual enterprise, like yours, keeps skills and knowledge alive.

This is the issue of any craftsperson trying to make a living in a world of cheap mass consumer goods. Unless you find the clientel willing to pay and knowing they are getting a quality product for their money you are stuck as a craftsperson working a real job to support your passions. I know because I have done woodworking and furniture building for years yet find it difficult to live on that when people buy pressboard garbage for their homes. Best of luck and the more we do support what now has become cottage or artisan industries the better we will be.