Merinould

Merinould is an engineered fiber blend marketed as a soft, versatile textile. The name signals its aim to combine merino wool with polymer reinforcement, producing a fabric that preserves wool comfort while improving durability and performance.

Composition and production: Merinould formulations typically mix merino wool fibers with a polymer component, either by core-spinning or by coating wool filaments with a polymer sheath, or by creating blended yarns in which wool comprises about 40–70% of the fiber content and synthetic filaments provide the remaining 30–60%. The resulting yarns can be woven or knitted, and finished with standard textile processing to enhance softness, moisture management, and water resistance.

Properties: The wool component provides softness, insulation, breathability, and odor resistance; the polymer component enhances strength, abrasion resistance, elasticity, and dimensional stability. The fabric is usually lightweight for its warmth and tends to drape well.

Applications: Merinould is used in apparel such as base layers, casual wear, travel and outdoor garments, activewear, and some upholstery and technical textiles.

Care and sustainability: Care instructions are similar to wool blends; some merinould fabrics can be machine washed on gentle cycle, but others require hand wash or dry cleaning. Environmental considerations include recyclability; blends may be downcycled or recycled where facilities exist; ongoing research seeks to improve recyclability by enabling selective separation of wool and polymer components.

History: The concept emerged in the late 1990s or early 2000s as textile researchers explored combining natural fibers with synthetic matrices to improve performance. Several manufacturers have marketed merinould variants since then.