Woolerina blanket: waste not, want not

Specialising in Merino wool clothing for men, women, kids and babies, Woolerina is an Australian family owned and run business, headed by former wool buyer and broker Warwick Rolfe who founded the company nearly 20 years ago.  

All Woolerina garments are knitted, dyed and constructed in Australia, with the design, pattern making, cutting and some garment construction, along with warehousing and despatch, carried out at the company’s base at Forbes in the Central West of NSW. 

The company’s product range has grown from just four styles back in 2006 to now comprise a large range including base-layer tops, cardigans, jumpers, dresses, skirts, pants, sleepwear, socks and accessories. 

The latest addition to Woolerina’s catalogue, the Woolerina x Waverley Mills Blanket, is a product about which Woolerina is particularly proud, because it includes recycled fibre made from the company’s waste off-cuts. 

Re-purposing offcuts minimises waste 

Grandchildren of Woolerina’s Warwick Rolfe with the Woolerina x Waverley Mills Blanket. Top image: Warwick Rolfe with his two daughters, Pippa and Penny, and grandchildren. PHOTOS: Monique Lovick Photography 

Warwick says that when Woolerina first began cutting its garments in-house back in 2015, he became acutely aware of the large amount of waste offcuts created during the garment production process, up to 25% of the original fabric.  

“It was such a waste of beautiful fabric – made from premium wool – which I didn’t want to see end up in landfill. Over the past 10 years we have carefully collected all the offcuts from our cutting room, while we worked on finding a way for this waste to be used,” Warwick said. 

“There have been many ideas and many ‘roadblocks’, but it became apparent that the best way to finding a new use for the offcuts was to begin by shredding the fabric, to ‘strip it back’, returning it to a similar consistency of raw wool and then blending it with virgin wool. 

“We were excited to learn of Waverley Mills’ ability to create the yarn we were seeking on a commercial scale, and then a blanket from this yarn.” 

“Fabric re-purposing has been in my thoughts for many years and this project is the culmination of nearly 10 years’ work. We are thrilled to be able to finally bring these premium wool offcuts to life through this partnership with Waverley Mills." 
- Warwick Rolfe, Woolerina 

Woolerina’s business model shows how, in contrast to synthetic fibres, wool fits into a sustainable, circular model of textile production that minimises waste and pollution. Not only does Woolerina use predominantly Merino wool – a renewable and biodegradable fibre – but its recycling of offcuts is an example of how wool is the most recycled fibre on the planet of the major fibre types.  

Woolerina x Waverley Mills Blanket 

Warwick worked closely with Waverley Mills, Australia's oldest continuously operating textile mill, to develop the yarn and the Woolerina x Waverley Mills Blanket. The Woolerina offcuts were shredded and then blended with virgin wool in a ratio of 30% offcuts to 70% pure new wool fibre to create a new 100% wool yarn, with which Waverley Mills wove the blanket. 

Woolerina offcuts about to be recycled into yarn at Waverley Mills. PHOTO: Waverley Mills 

Founded in 1874, Waverley Mills is committed to manufacturing products made from natural fibres and has its eyes firmly fixed on the future, with Australian Merino wool being the hero (see the article in the September 2024 edition of Beyond the Bale). The company has recently been working collaboratively with brands such as Woolerina. 

"The Woolerina job was, in so many ways, a great experience for Waverley to be involved with. It has been one of my favourite projects to work on to date,” said Penny Rundle of Waverley Mills. 

Woolerina launched the Woolerina x Waverley Mills Blanket in October and it is available to purchase from the Woolerina website. Woolerina ships across Australia and internationally. 

More information: www.woolerina.com.au 

This article appeared in the December 2024 edition of AWI’s Beyond the Bale magazine. Reproduction of the article is encouraged.