Fabric Cost

**piperalpha** · 5th May 23, 05:57 AM

It seems crazy to me that wool is worth less than the labour to shear it. I’ve never minded paying for it. I suppose we can point the finger at fast fashion and then back at ourselves for buying fast fashion

**Tobus** · 5th May 23, 06:14 AM

Originally Posted by piperalpha

It seems crazy to me that wool is worth less than the labour to shear it. I’ve never minded paying for it. I suppose we can point the finger at fast fashion and then back at ourselves for buying fast fashion

I guess it really depends on the type/source of the wool. I had read elsewhere that wool prices were higher than ever, at least for Australian wool and other sources which produce the type that's used for most clothing, tartan, etc.

If Scottish wool producers can't even cover their labour to shear, then it seems like more of a failure to find the right market for their wool, or they're simply producing the wrong type for today's market. Hopefully this "British wool" initiative will take off, but if not, these producers may need to adjust their business models to tap into the lucrative side of the wool market. It's not like wool in and of itself is a loser. It's more popular than ever.

**stickman** · 5th May 23, 06:51 AM

When you think about it, how much wool is actually being worn nowadays ? Not much. Most clothing is now made out of man made material. On top of that the material is mostly made in Asia. I once had a job at a polyester spinning plant in India. They were adding 10 more lines to their already 64 lines. Each line had 16 spinning stations. The plant ran 24/365 and all the workers had to do was change out the full spools for empty ones. I forget how much they were paid, but it wasn’t much. There is no way to compete with that.

**Tobus** · 5th May 23, 07:15 AM

Originally Posted by stickman

When you think about it, how much wool is actually being worn nowadays ? Not much. Most clothing is now made out of man made material. On top of that the material is mostly made in Asia. I once had a job at a polyester spinning plant in India. They were adding 10 more lines to their already 64 lines. Each line had 16 spinning stations. The plant ran 24/365 and all the workers had to do was change out the full spools for empty ones. I forget how much they were paid, but it wasn’t much. There is no way to compete with that.

While I'm sure wool's percentage of human clothing has declined over the centuries, our population is increasing at a rate that wool couldn't keep up anyway. At any rate, the global wool market is not in decline. It is growing, according to this page: https://www.mordorintelligence.com/i...ts/wool-market

It does appear that Asia's super-cheap labour has started to dominate the spinning/weaving side of it. And apparently China grows more sheep than anyone else. So perhaps that's the real culprit here: competition, not a shrinking market.

**stickman** · 5th May 23, 11:21 AM

Must be a recent development. I spent about 10 months a year (for about 5 years) in China never saw the first sheep. But that was about 25 years ago. The first time I went was in the early 80s. There was nothing there in those days. No private vehicles other than horse carts and bicycles. And a CCP watch dog behind me everywhere I went.