Wool and Sleep

This page offers links to information on wool and sleep.

Sleep and rest are hugely important to literally everyone, and there is a growing body of research supporting the conclusion that wool can help people sleep better.

Sleepwear and bedding are not what WeatherWool is about ... it's basically our charter to make All-Purpose Outerwear.  But people have asked us many times to make Blankets, so we did, and we are very happy with them.  We have even made a few pillows.

We don't see ourselves ever making pajamas or sheets or mattresses, but others make all those things from wool, and those products, plus wool blankets, can create an entire wool sleep system.

• This study, The impact of sleepwear fiber type on sleep quality under warm ambient conditions, from the National Library of Medicine (Bethesda, Maryland) presents evidence that led the authors to conclude: "Statistically significant benefits for wool sleepwear were observed on average for all participants and, in particular, for the older and poorer sleepers. There were no significant differences in any sleep variables between sleepwear types for the BMI sub-group."  BMI means Body-Mass Index.
• The IWTO (International Wool Trade Organization), together with American Wool, offers a short PDF
• There is some interesting material posted by the folks at Wool Sleeping Bag ... this material seems important to me. Of course they are biased toward wool, as are we. On the other hand, information like this is why we are biased in the first place. They have info about Sleeping Outdoors (in wool) and lots more
• The National Institutes of Health (USA) published some research on

  "The impact of sleepwear fiber type on sleep quality under warm ambient conditions". The research shows "small but statistically significant" benefits of sleeping in wool versus cotton and polyester, particularly for older people.

• The same (as previous bullet) authors published another paper, "The effects of fabric for sleepwear and bedding on sleep at ambient temperatures of 17°C and 22°C", which found that "Sleep onset latency (SOL) was significantly shortened when sleeping in wool with trends of increased total sleep time and sleep efficiency compared to cotton sleepwear."
• Another study from IWTO, this one about wool and babies
• Not a sleep study ... but this one is about wool and eczema.  I guess it could be extrapolated to include wool bedding. Also item from Woolmark

 

 

 

27 July 2023 --- Ralph