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Lets talk more about fillings! 100% wool is a popular industrial material and I was excited to find this sample batch of 100% natural wool scrap in my mail box last week.
Small parts are die cut from wool and used in many different industrial applications. Look here what is left over!
That is a lot of waste, don’t you think? I currently found a source willing to sell me their scraps (shown above). They told me that the scraps are collected in large bins under the die cut machines, never touching the floor, they are bundled and kept very clean wrapped in plastic.
I can buy this waste, as a wholesaler, by the 100 pound bale. It makes a great support layer but may be a bit bumpy as a topper layer. If anyone has an idea on how to shred this wool scrap up finer, it may make a great topper layer too. I will do more research on the shredding and I will share pricing per pod once I get my quote back on the shipping (should be a very low cost option). Good find I think.
I hope to have more filing ideas in the future but if you have any ideas, please share them in the comment area.
Let’s talk about fillings part 3:
Coconut coir is a coarse, sturdy filler. This material would make a great base layer to add some spring. I am on the hunt for rubberized coconut coir as I would imagine that it would preserve the coir from drying out and breaking down too fast. Plain coconut coir might make a great temporary filing (by temporary I mean a year or two – best guess as I have not tested). For example this material would mix well with the horse hair 50/50 to reduce the cost per pod significantly.
The sample I received was quite dirty so I actually washed it by hand today. It washes out very easily and dries quickly (I just spread it out on my patio table). I do like how natural feeling it is; reminds me of a birds nest.
Smell: Very faint, sort of a sweet grassy smell.
Lets talk about fillings Part 2: Please feel free to contact me here at my Etsy shop if you have any questions or if you would like to order a sample fillings kit ($10 plus shipping).
Horse hair is a traditional upholstery filing. It is still used today in high end upholstery shops and in some luxury car seats. It was hard to find a US supplier (I have only one so far), but the1 pound box I ordered contained a generous amount. I have to say this will be a pricey option, but it would be like sleeping on a cloud. So far it seems the horse hair is very resilient, and would not loose it’s spring over time. One con is that the ends of each hair are sharp and they poke through the wool fabric. This may need a liner if you plan on using it in a topper pod.
My choice would be the layer under the buckwheat hull topper layer. I tested this combination and it was heavenly. I do not know if this would be enough support to be the entire mattress, I would probably consider another base layer for more spring.
The smell is pretty neutral and it appears very clean.
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