Biodegradable Wool Test is Completed

The results are back from the Campaign for Wool special experiment to demonstrate the biodegradable properties of wool.

Back in June, Prince Charles buried a wool and synthetic sweaters to begin the test of how quickly each biodegrades in soil. His Royal Highness hosted the special experiment at Clarence House to demonstrate just how quickly wool can biodegrade in soil.

Two identical-looking sweaters were buried side-by-side in a flowerbed. There was one crucial difference between the two garments – one was a pure merino wool sweater, the other was a synthetic look-a-like.

In October, as part of Wool Week celebration in the United Kingdom, The Campaign for Wool went back to the burial site to see what had happened to each over the four month period they spent in the ground. In fact, the sweaters look very different now.

The merino wool sweater is on its way to complete decomposition and is being held together by the wire frame – organizers believe that if they had left the sweater in the soil for much longer, it would likely completely disintegrate.

The synthetic sweater, however, was virtually untouched by its time in the ground – it was clean, white and totally intact and has suffered no visible degradation at all.

Because it naturally degrades in a fraction of the time it takes other fabrics, wool is the obvious choice for anyone concerned about the health of the planet, Campaign for Wool officials pointed out.