Question from Joanna
Hi Debra,
I’m building an addition to my home and I’m looking for the safest insulation.
I found this insulation that is basically sheep’s wool.
What do you think of this?
Debra’s Answer
I love it!
I love wool anything.
About twenty years ago I was remodeling the kitchen of my little-cabi- in-the-woods in Northern California and when I pulled the interior walls off, it was full of newspaper from 1930!
I needed something for insulation and I thought of sheep’s wool.
I just drove up to Shepherd’s Dream (which at the time was about an hour’s drive north of where I lived) and got the same organic wool that was stuffed in my mattress. It was perfect. And it just felt good to know I had wool in my walls. Like my house was cuddling me and keeping me warm.
This wool insulation looks fine to me. I’ve seen some others that mix wool with various other materials but Havelock Wool is 100% wool (with a small amount of natural boric acid added as an insect repellant). Their wool is sourced in New Zealand where sheep roam pastoral lands and eat grass in serene settings. It is blended and washed there before being shipped to their manufacturing facility in Nevada where they make both loose-fill and batt form insulation.
Here are some of the benefits they list on their website:
- ALL NATURAL – Wool insulation is entirely renewable and sustainable
- MOISTURE CONTROL – Wool naturally manages moisture levels against 65% relative humidity
- FIRE RESISTANT – Wool is inherently known to extinguish after smoldering
- LONG LASTING – Extensive useful life
- NO HARMFUL CHEMICALS – Natural characteristics allow our insulation to be devoid of harmful chemicals
- NOISE REDUCTION – Wool creates acoustic advantages in minimizing airborne sound
- DISPOSAL – Wool insulation can be composted at the end of an extended useful life
- INSTALLATION – Blow-in and batts are installed like other mediums but with no protection required
I’m happy to see this product available. It’s a totally natural, renewable biodegradable alternative to toxic insulation materials.
what abt moth infestations? I read of a family who used wool & then got moths.
Is boric acid tested for longevity of insect repelling properties? thanks so much for all the great info.
There seems to be a lot of information on this subject online.
All I can say from personal experience is that I have been sleeping surrounded by untreated wool for more than 20 years and have never had a problem with moths. Moths have eaten my wool scarves sitting in boxes, but never my mattress or pillow or comforter.