Reitir - Fields - Icelandic blanket with recycled wool.

Reitir or Fields

This blanket made from two thirds recycled wool and one third new wool. The wool is 100% Icelandic comes from ÍSTEX, the main wool manufacturer in Iceland. 

Icelandic wool is highly durable and has been instrumental in Icelandic history, ensuring the nations survival and for a while serving as one of its main trading goods.  It has unique wool fibers, where the inner fibers are fine, soft and highly insulating while the outer fibers are long, glossy and repel water. Products made from Icelandic wool are therefore extremely durable, lightweight, breathable and warm. 

 Icelandic Wool – Naturally warm since 874

Why Icelandic wool? 

The origins of the Icelandic sheep can be traced back to the first settlers in 874 AD. Due to the remote location in the north Atlantic the breed has remained almost unchanged for more than 1.100 years.  The harsh conditions and isolation brought about the natural evolvement of the Icelandic sheep and with selective breeding led to the unique properties of Icelandic wool that makes it a truly natural phenomenon.  The fleece is dual fiber with two distinctive layers, “Tog” and “Þel”:     

Tog are the longer, outer fibers that give strength, are longer and glossy and are also water resistant. 

Þel is the fine undercoat that holds air with natural bounce and provides insulation against the elements, without the weight.

Combined, these two fibers make the Icelandic wool so unique, that even when wet, it retains its warming properties. 

 The wool comes from sustainable, usually small family farming in Iceland where the sheep roam free in the summer in the Icelandic countryside, which is famous for its clean air and pure water. The farmers adhere to strict animal welfare regulations where there is no mulesing because the breed is naturally short tailed.  Icelandic agriculture uses virtually no pesticides or herbicides* so there are no residues or harmful chemicals of any kind found in Icelandic Wool. Even the cleaning of the wool uses heating from geothermal springs and electricity from renewable sources.   

 This is why the Icelandic wool is the natural choice. 

 * What do we mean by no pesticides or herbicides?  According to the UN food and Agricultural organization Iceland has by far the lowest usage of pesticides pr. hectare than all European countries. The closest Scandinavian nation uses more than 40x the amount than Iceland does.  See more here: https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/RP