Ode to Dutch wool: “We are still discovering new applications”

“That means one and a half million kilos every year,” says Janne de Hoop, one of the founders of the Hollands Wool Collective. “If you imagine it in terms of weight, it’s already a lot. We should actually visualize how many full trucks that means. »

About a year and a half ago, De Hoop launched the Hollands Wool Collective with partner Mirthe Snoek, both trained as product designers at TU Delft. The goal: to buy wool on a large scale from Dutch sheep farmers and turn it into semi-finished products that creative designers and developers can use.

Collection of knowledge and skills

“The province of South Holland had set up a competition in which people could present their ideas to stimulate the use of wool,” says De Hoop. “Different ideas have emerged. We actually concluded that the heart of the solution was at the whole table. For a wool warp, you need scale and all the processing and application knowledge you can find. Then we threw the element of competition off the table and Hollands Wol Collectief was created.

Read also: The world’s first sustainable gin comes from the soil of Utrecht and is made from 2,500 kilos of residual fruit

Versatile Features

Dutch wool is naturally a bit stiff and scratchy, which is why consumers prefer soft merino wool from countries like New Zealand and Australia. “But wool from the Netherlands is a wonderful product,” says De Hoop. “The wool is washed in Europe; only a few factories remain that do. We then make felt from the washed wool in the Netherlands. Felt is the basis of many products, such as wall finishing, furniture and acoustic panels. In the future we want to add many more wool products. What’s interesting is that we’re still figuring out what all the apps might be.