www.customwoolenmills.com/index.htm Bill will answer just about any question about wool you can come up with. The first thing to remember is that not all wool products are the marvelous stuff you see a square jawed arctic explorer wearing replete with canadian pattern smoking pipe. There are various grades, just like tea, maple syrup and gasoline. Wool ideally is virgin with the natural fibers still intact. You start mixing in nylon for wearability, wools processed in various proceedures for manufacture or recycled, fabric wieght and the various twists for yarn and even it's origonal wearer might say BAAAAAAAAD! There are also various felts, boiled yarns like the marvelous Dachstein and many hybrid blends. Pile clothing has come a long way from the primer grey coloured stuff that pilled ( shedding fuzz balls) and made unwashed gymn socks smell like pot-pourri satchets in comparison. The product is pretty uniform and honestly outperforms it's woolen equal by a small margin. Wool remains the safest material around fire. I've never been comfortable with plastics after catching two horses running down the PCH during the Malibu Burn with burning stallblankets and melted halters. <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> Wool for me has one additional 'use.' I have an Aran sweater with my family pattern. I was so proud of it until this character in a San Francisco pub explained each family pattern was to help I.D. drowned fishermen that had been in the water awhile.