The use of wool batting in mattresses has been primarily used in upper end bedding. The wool is either garneted or carded into high lofted or needle punched batting for use in the top upholstery layers of mattresses. Wool has many unique properties that make it an excellent choice for the following reasons:

Resilience- Wool has a natural crimp which gives it bounce, body, and soft support characteristics. This resilience is due to the fibrils in the core of the fiber which are formed rather like springs of a mattress and are linked together by garneting or carding process. These bonds prevent the spirals rotating when pulled or pushed, providing wool with excellent elastic rigidity. This helps to prevent wool fibers from packing down under pressure.

This property is particularly beneficial for bedding uses, as the wool cushions and softly supports, diffusing pressure points and molding to body contours. Tests prove wool to be an excellent material for the prevention of bedsores for long term bedridden patients.

Microclimates- When used in bedding, wool creates a micro climate which assists in regulating body temperature and humidity, providing a more rested night's sleep. Wool provides a high level of thermal comfort due to its outstanding insulating properties. Wool offers warmth under cool conditions because the natural crimp of the fiber allows air to be trapped. The thermal resistance of air means it is six to ten times as insulating as any fiber. This insulating property of wool ensures that temperature changes are slow and gradual when wool is used in a bedding situation, avoiding rapid temperature changes.

Moisture Absorption - Wool can absorb up to 30% of its own weight in water without feeling wet to the touch. The reason for this is that its constituent keratin is very rich in amino acids which easily bind together with water molecules. Wool is particularly hydrophilic when water is present in the form of vapor. As humidity levels rise, wool fibers absorb and store the moisture, keeping the humidity at skin surface relatively low. This wicking of moisture away from the skin enables the sleeper to sleep cooler in warmer conditions.

Allergy Free-The scouring of wool thoroughly cleans it and is non-allergenic, ideal for those who suffer allergies to feather and down or synthetic bedding products.

Fire Resistant- Testing over many years has confirmed that the high keratin protein and moisture content of wool make it naturally resistant to burning. It is difficult to set alight under most conditions and burns only weakly, forming a cold char which tends to extinguish burning.

It is important to note that wool is naturally fire resistant, not a fire retardant. Fire retardants reduce the flammability of materials by either blocking the fire physically or by initiating a chemical reaction that stops the fire. Pure wool without any added chemical fire retardants performs well as a fire barrier if it is used in the proper weight (app. 1.8 oz per square ft.) and is either mechanically densified (needle punched) or densified by the quilting process itself. Wool will burn at 600 degrees F, however if air is removed from the batting by densification it performs very well and will pass the CFR 1633 burn test. This has been proven time and time again by many credible mattress manufacturers. Currently it is the source of claims by manufacturers that CFR 1633 compliance can be achieved without the use of toxic chemical fire retardants. There are certain types of processed wool that perform better than others. Wool batting that contain synthectic bonding agents sometimes do not act as a robust fire barrier due to the synthetic polyester used to bond the wool batting together. Raw grease wool is required by law to be scoured or cleaned. Some commercial wools available to bedding manufacturers are chemically scoured with hydrochloric acid. This process causes carbonization which strips the wool fiber of lanolin and even can destroy the outer sheath of the wool fiber itself, thus diluting its natural fire resistant properties. Carbonization is the term for the conversion of an organic substance into carbon or a carbon-containing residue through pyrolysis or destructive distillation . The best performing wools are wools that are scoured in a mild biodegradable detergent with out removing all the lanolin or stripping the outer sheath of the wool fibers. Natural pure wool processed in this fashion will pass CFR 1633 burn tests with very good results if used in the proper weight (1.8 oz per sq. ft).

Wool grown on farms or ranches utilizing sustainable ranching techniques without the use of chemical pesticides and overgrazing on pastures that contain no chemical hebicides or chemical fertiilizers is the best conditions for purity of the wool. Ranchers, processers and handlers all have to go through an extensive audit and inspection process to be achieve organic certification through an official FDA certifier. Many claims of organic or certified organic wool being used by being made by bedding manufacturers is very suspect to say the least. There is legitimate progress being made in this area and in the not too distant future it will be easier for producers, manufacturers and consumers to identify who is truly compliant to organic standards. This is not to say that non-certified wools or processed wools with use of chemistry will not work in some cases as a legitmate FR barrier for use in mattresses for CFR 1633 compliance.

Even though pure wool is a very good barrier to achieve compliance to CFR 1633, it is a very expensive when compared to other fire barriers available on the market for bedding manufacturers. The price of wool batting which will act as a fire barrier range from $10 per linear yard to $15 per linear yard, depending on the quality and cleanliness of the wool. Some manufacturers use as little as .5 oz per sq. ft of inherant rayon to pass the burn test. These types of fire barriers cost as little as $2 per linear yard. The greater bulk or weight, plus the higher price of wool versus inherant rayon make it a much more expensive way to achieve CFR 1633 compliance. If consumers want a toxic non chemical fire barrier in their mattress, they are obviously going to have to pay more for it. .

There are those who claim their fire barriers to be 100% natural, which is also misleading. Blended wool with inherent rayon is also touted sometimes as 100% natural. However this is not entirely true either. In the production of rayon, purified cellulose is chemically converted into a soluble compound. A solution of this compound is passed through the spinneret to form soft filaments that are then converted or “regenerated” into almost pure cellulose. Because of the reconversion of the soluble compound to cellulose, rayon is referred to as a regenerated cellulose fiber. During the extrusion process silica is chemically bonded to regenerated cellulose giving the finished product inherent flame retardancy . The chemical compound silicon dioxide , also known as silica (from the Latin silex ), is an oxide of silicon with a chemical formula of Si O 2 and has been known for its hardness since antiquity. Silica is most commonly found in nature as sand or quartz , as well as in the cell walls of diatoms . It is a principal component of most types of glass and substances such as concrete . Silica is the most abundant mineral in the earth's crust . It is not a stretch to describe regenerated cellulose and silica as natural, however the chemisty in order to produce the final product is not necessarily kind to the environment.

In conclusion 100% pure wool processed properly will perform very well as a FR barrier for CFR 1633 compliance. However it is a very expensive way to achieve it. Ultimately bedding manufacturers and their customers must decide whether it is worth the additional expense they must pay for an all natural solution for compliance to the law.