Wool seal
The wool seal ( English Woolmark ) is a quality mark for products made from pure new wool and a standardization in the quality labeling of textiles. The quality mark and trademark rights were taken over in 2001 by Australian Wool Innovation Limited (AWI), based in Sydney (Australia), a subsidiary of Woolmark Company Private Limited, which took over the tasks of the former IWS (International Wool Secretariat). The tasks of the non-profit organization include the marketing of new wool in the main producer countries and the cooperation with the producers, exporters, importers and dealers in the distribution countries. The representation of the Woolmark Company for Germany, Austria and Switzerland is based in Bergheim , as well as the Australian Wool Innovation (formerly Wollsiegel-Verband e.V.) in Düsseldorf .
history
On July 1, 1937, the International Wool Publicity and Research Secretariat was founded in Melbourne and shortly thereafter renamed the International Wool Secretariat (IWS) and the headquarters were relocated to London . The IWS was used to promote the sale of new wool to wool producers against competition from cotton and synthetic fibers and to review research by independent organizations such as the Wool Industries Research Association in Torridon, Leeds, UK. The International Wool Secretariat was represented by members of the wool associations from Australia , New Zealand , South Africa and, from 1970, with Uruguay . It merged with the Australian Wool Research and Promotion Organization (AWRAP) until 1995 and was renamed Woolmark Company in 1997 . Replaced in 1998 by the Wool Industry Future Directions Task Force, followed in 2000 by the Wool Industry Interim Board. On January 1, 2001, it was founded as a non-profit organization named Australian Wool Services Ltd (AWS), with two subsidiaries, The Woolmark Company (TWC) for the commercial development of the Woolmark brand and its sub-brands and for marketing deals with intellectual property issues, as well as Australian Wool Innovation Limited (AWI), which includes the income from the wool tax and research and development and management. A year later, AWI becomes independent from AWS and in 2007 acquired The Woolmark Company (TWC) and the Woolmark brand.
Quality mark / seal of approval
A wool seal is only valid with a corresponding test number (license number).
The internationally used wool seal of the Woolmark Company in the form of a Möbius strip was designed by the Italian graphic artist and designer Franco Grignani (1908–1999) and was first introduced in 1964 in the Federal Republic of Germany, Great Britain, Japan and the USA and until 1966 legally protected in a total of 97 countries. The German citizens were informed about the quality label in traveling exhibitions in Germany and the German cloth industry also tried to point out the high quality of German products by introducing the wool label.
When it was introduced in 1964, the following regulations applied:
- Only pure new wool is used, with tolerances for unwanted, visible decorative effects of 5% and for an unavoidable foreign fiber content of 0.3% during production.
- Specified minimum values for tear strength
- Specified minimum values for color fastness
- Every woolen seal product has a sewn-in wool seal label
The date of introduction of the Wollsiegel carpets to retailers was set for September 1, 1965.
Wool seal
The wool mark (Woolmark) also guarantees that the wear layer of carpets is made of pure new wool (Pure New Wool) and that it comes directly from the shorn sheep, was neither recycled nor taken from dead animals. This wool may only have a residual fat content of 1 percent. Carpets with a wool seal must be treated with a wool protection agent ( PCSD / PCAD ).
The Woolmark Gold, which was added in October 2012, is reserved, for example, for merino wool for certified production facilities for luxury textiles. Other protected sub-brands with pure new wool are Pure Merino Wool, Merino Extra Fine, Merino Ultra Fine, Australia Merino Wool, Merino Perform, Sheepskin, Cool Wool.
Combi wool seal
The Combi-Wollsiegel (Woolmark Blend) was first introduced in 1971 as Woolblendmark and then renamed. It is a quality mark for fiber blends with at least 50% virgin wool and a maximum of 50% non-wool fibers, such as elastane . The proportion of virgin wool must have the same properties as those of pure virgin wool. In the case of carpets, this means a proportion of over 80% new wool or only the pile fabric consists of 100% new wool.
Wool blend
The wool blend seal was introduced in 1999 and, on the other hand, means that at least 30 percent of wool products are made from new wool with a tolerance of 3%. The largest part can be made of polyamide, for example. The seal is licensed.
Other names
In contrast to the textiles marked with a wool seal, textiles marked with “pure wool” or “100% wool” can also be made from recycled wool (old textiles).