Rising price of wool to drive up Kilt costs

[chrisupyonder]

I have heard that most british wool goes into the carpet and knitware industries and is not suitable for weaving kilt cloth. Pity, because there are more sheep than people in Caithness and Sutherland.



Chris.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

I have heard that most british wool goes into the carpet and knitware industries and is not suitable for weaving kilt cloth. Pity, because there are more sheep than people in Caithness and Sutherland.



Chris.

Chris, that is very true, with a few exceptions. I know that the Harris Tweed industry still uses Cheviot wool. And then there is Ardalanish on Mull that uses local native breeds.

But by and large, where tartan is concerned, the wool does not come from UK sheep.

[cruiser348]

That sounds like about my luck. I had just started hiding away a few dollars a week towards the purchase of my first nice kilt (and sadly I do mean a few dollars). While doing my calculations as to how long it would take I thought I was being oh so smart and factored in a "price increase" fudge factor; sadly I only did 18% not 30%. Ahh well what's an extra few months of jonesing. Out of curiosity what is the primary country of origin for wool of high enough quality for tartan weavers?

[Paul Henry]

That sounds like about my luck. I had just started hiding away a few dollars a week towards the purchase of my first nice kilt (and sadly I do mean a few dollars). While doing my calculations as to how long it would take I thought I was being oh so smart and factored in a "price increase" fudge factor; sadly I only did 18% not 30%. Ahh well what's an extra few months of jonesing. Out of curiosity what is the primary country of origin for wool of high enough quality for tartan weavers?

Here you go! from the STA

sources of yarn

[M. A. C. Newsome]

As far as what typically goes into most quality Scottish woven tartan, it's wool from Australia and New Zealand.

[Joshua]

Is it just me, or do the Chinese get blamed for every shortage on the whole planet?

The "Black Helicopter Tinfoil Helmet" in me believes it's bullcrap used to drive up commodity cost.

[CDNSushi]

Well, hey... You can still get PV kilts for a good price. Polyviscose wool comes from plastic sheep!

[RockyR]

I blame the high cost of wool on the high price sheep are demanding. Those 'number sheep' on the sleepy's commercials are greedy.

[saxandpipes]

As far as what typically goes into most quality Scottish woven tartan, it's wool from Australia and New Zealand.

I would have guessed that. And explains why a kilt in NZ is so expensive... and I mean expensive. At least 1000NZD, just about anywhere.

The wool has to get sent to opposite ends of the earth, twice.

:S

[Tobus]

Is it just me, or do the Chinese get blamed for every shortage on the whole planet?

The "Black Helicopter Tinfoil Helmet" in me believes it's bullcrap used to drive up commodity cost.

I don't know how much of the "Chinese demand" excuse is true or not, but it is an absolutely huge country with a staggering number of people in it. The more they modernize and start purchasing globally-produced goods, the more pressure it will put on everything. Most people grossly underestimate the potential impact that China has on the global economy. As more and more Chinese join the global marketplace, becoming westernized consumers, we will continue to see wild things happen.

Question for the experts out there... Why is Scottish wool not suitable for kiltmaking? Is it too coarse or something? Why was it good enough a couple of hundred years ago but not today?