In 2007 Steve and Joan purchased equipment from a mill in the lower Hudson Valley, which once made the felt hammerheads for Steinway pianos. Steve redesigned the equipment to meet his needs. Though he began by scouring his own wool, Steve discovered it was uneconomical in smaller quantities and found a supplier who would clean the wool without the use of chemicals: “Originally Bollman Industries (maker of Bollman hats) agreed to process our wool as a special order but now they process most, or all, of their wool using only biodegradable soaps.”

When the 500-900 lb. bales of washed fiber arrive, they are cleaned on a 1940s-era vacuum picker, which opens up the fibers and vacuums out the dust and loose particles.

The newly cleaned wool is blown through a duct to the carding machine. Here the jumbled fibers are combed straight and more uniform. A thin web of wool fibers coming off of the carding machines is slowly layered until a consistent thick batt of wool is formed. The batts are gradually rolled up and packaged for use in mattresses, quilts, pillows, or beds. Greenfleece Fiber can produce unusually wide single wool batt rolls (up to almost 10 feet wide), which are perfect for king size mattresses and large quilts.

creating a market for local farmers

Today Greenfleece Fiber purchases sheep’s wool from Kyle Farms in western New York and other northeastern sheep farms.

supporting local manufacturers

Cozy Up-branded batting is sold to CeCe’s Wool for pillows, comforters and pet beds and to mattress makers in the region. Greenfleece Fiber is committed to growing and supporting the market for locally raised, locally processed wool products for the home and craft market. We hope that a growing market will allow co-ops and wool pools to expand and provide better prices and efficiency to local sheep farms.

wool is comfortable

Wool batting keeps you cool when it’s hot and warm when it’s cold. How? Wool breathes. It draws humidity away from you in warm weather instead of trapping it against your body as synthetics can. As we know, in cold weather wool is the excellent insulator.

no harsh chemicals

Wool batting has no chemical fire retardants. It doesn’t need them. Wool is composed of natural protein and flame tests show it resists burning.

naturally supportive

Wool batting provides excellent even support for your body. Wool batting is combed (in the process called carding) to provide uniform support and wool fibers resist flexing, folding, or crushing for many years.

long lasting

Wool bedding lasts a very long time. When properly cared for wool can last many decades and will not break down, unlike some synthetic fibers, which can break down and create dust.

a renewable resource

Wool batting is a natural and renewable product. Wool comes from sheep that must be shorn regularly to stay healthy (otherwise it keeps growing longer like people hair).

Wool batting is naturally biodegradable and recyclable. You can compost wool with an appropriate mix of other materials or it can be recycled to make more wool batting.

Local

Cozy Up wool batting is local. It comes from Northeastern farms that use best management practices such as Kyle Farm in Avon, NY who graze their sheep sustainably on Genesee Valley Conservancy lands. Cozy Up batting is manufactured here in the northeast as well.