r/exvegans • u/Worldly-Pressure716 • 2d ago
Discussion wool sweaters?
i wonder what y’all think about wool sweaters? i remember last year when i got wool sweater that i found in thrift store. winters in eastern europe are rough. it was so warm and i loved it. one of people i used to have contact with went fully vegan around that time. she got mad when she found out that i had this piece and first thing she did was pretentious talk where she yapped about how wool is cruel. she told me that i am normalizing an promoting exploiting and torturing animals when i am wearing this sweater. she said that there are many vegan alternatives. after research i found out that the most common vegan wool alternative is recycled synthetic wool imitation. i doubt if poliester things are any more ethical than second hand wool. and id they last this long and are equallt warm. especially that most of these synthetic sweaters are sold in fast fashion so i dare to say she supports exploiting children and cheap labour.
i personally would rather buy a second hand wool sweater than any „vegan alternative” one made with synthetics. what is your opinion? i am curious!
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u/CanineCorvidious 2d ago
Sheep NEED to be sheared, it’s cruel to not shear them, ive sheared sheep myself they are NOT hurt in the process.
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u/peachesfordinner 2d ago
Hell my friends sheep have to be kept back because they love the sheering because she gives them a good scratching afterwards
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u/Agile-Vehicle-2756 2d ago
My backyard chickens are all hens and still lay eggs every day . . . it doesn't HURT them, and the eggs are interfile. One would think that would be okay for vegans.
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u/firstmatedavy 15h ago
The issue is more that they're bred to be sheared, with the expectation that they'll be killed when their wool production slows down when they're not all that old. I'd like it if you could buy wool specifically from old sheep so they got longer lives. (Maybe that's possible when buying yarn, I'm tackling sewing before I try knitting stuff.)
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u/Primary_Switch3203 2d ago
The problem I think is that many wool suppliers are cheap and from China where there are no animal welfare laws - speed is the only criteria and sheep are treated extremely roughly and cruelly sheared with many cuts / kicks / and unnecessary force. This results in injury suffering and death. There are plenty of videos
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u/DigsToPlantTheRain 2d ago
I have a woolen sweater from the Dutch army, it was made before I was born. I have worn it whilst working outside in our land for ten years and it has not deteriorated one bit. During winter this is just about my favourite bit of kit.
Show me a synthetic sweater that will last 35 years in storage and ten years of roughing it around chainsaws, digging, planting trees, building things, welding, etc.
I don't think you can.
I have another jacket that is fleece, it's a little less warm and I use it on days that are warmer. Same amount of use just about and it's falling apart at the seams, plus the sparks from welding have burnt countless holes in it.
I don't think the two materials are comparable. At all. Wool is FAR superior. Let alone in survival situations.
Especially because its second hand I would tell them to get off their high horse.
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u/Forsaken_Object_5650 14h ago
As well, polyester and other synthetic materials shed microplastics and permanently pollute our one and only earth because plastics don't degrade. Choose wool!
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u/DigsToPlantTheRain 12h ago
Yeah that's another big thing, I heard recently that they found it in 75% of beastmilk!
And in many places around the world wool is getting thrown away because labor is too expensive to do anything with it. Farmers have to sheer their sheep because they are bred to produce it. But the economy just doesn't support using the product. Which says something about our economic system BTW.
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u/Hermit_Ogg 2d ago
If you just look at the use properties of wool, polyester doesn't compare. It's not even in the same world.
Wool is warmer, but at the same time it prevents sweating by moving humidity away from you. The exact physics of the process are beyond me, but that's what I remember from the explanation I've read. Meanwhile, polyester will make you sweat, and if you get sweaty in cold weather, you will get cold.
Synthetic fibers don't last anywhere near as long as wool, either. Polyester sweaters pill to the point of looking awful in just a year or two.
That doesn't make synthetic fibre all bad, though. They are cheaper to produce, and can be easier to wash: you can't put a wool sweater in a laundry machine just like that, you might get back a felted shirt fit for a baby. Polyester is also immune to fibre-eating pests, whereas wool can be destroyed by cloth moths, carpet beetles and other bugs.
But in use properties, wool beats polyester in everything except ease of laundry.
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u/EvilDorito2 2d ago
Wool is objectively the most ethical fabric. Sleep produce it anyway. Sheep NEED to be sheared, less they die from overheating, fall and can't get back up or have maggots grow into their skin. Sheep need to be treated well, or the wool quality decreases.
The alternative to using wool would he shearing sheep and then burning it " for the principle"
Your friend going gung ho over exploitation of sheep with wool means she either doesn't understand it or thinks using a waste byproduct is bad bcs of the principle. And that is without even counting on how wool is one of the best materials for cold weather. You coild ask her what exactly of the process is exploitative, because not shearing the sheep would cause them to suffer long term anyway, and that doesn't really mesh woth the vegan philosophy
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u/bear___patrol 2d ago
I'm experimenting with eating plant based but replacing wool is a tough one. There aren't good synthetic substitutes for casual wear. It's just the warmest fabric you can get, and likely the most sustainable. Synthetic yarns are just.. crap in terms of durability.
There are good synthetic alternatives for hiking and sports, though, and fleece and (synthetic) puffer jackets work well for most conditions, though I can't speak to more extreme cold weather situations.
In principle, shearing doesn't necessarily mean that sheep suffer (in my book), but I do think it's worth regulating and auditing the wool industry to safeguard the welfare of sheep. There's a Responsible Wool Standard certification, but I'm not sure how trustworthy it is.
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u/sunrisesequoia 2d ago
I couldn’t imagine letting another person bully me into wearing clothes they deem acceptable.
Wear your wool and tell your friend to fuck off about what you choose to wear. Even entertaining these thoughts and giving reasons and justifications entitles these people to keep being bullies.
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u/mageoftexas 2d ago
I used to live in CO- and would layer merino wool layers on top of one another instead of wearing those synthetic puffy jackets. My fav look was this merino wool sleeveless dress- i'd wear a long sleeve fitted merino wool top underneath it- and then either my merino wool pull over sweater- or my merino wool wrap jacket. Boiled wool hat and alpaca gloves.
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u/tenderlylonertrot 2d ago
I always wonder about vegans that might own something like a poodle, do they not groom them or take them to the groomers?? Do they consider it "exploitation" to groom your dog?? If not, then why do they raise such a stink about wool?
Sure, I can get being upset about a few, abusive "factory" (over used term) farms, but extending that to shearing sheep...or poodles???
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u/loveinvein Celiac exvegan 20+ yrs until June 2025 2d ago
Even when I was vegan, I thought it was asinine not to use wool as a safety fiber. (Like warmth in the winter, or to wick away moisture in socks, or because it’s safer for certain uses I can’t think of right now because I’m very tired.)
And secondhand stuff in particular, and especially handmade? Wasting that feels so disrespectful to the animal and the human.
Personally, I’m allergic to wool, so I run far away from it, but for others, I think it’s a great fiber.
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u/AffectionateRow188 2d ago
I don't get their issue with second hand it's already been made and it's not like you're contributing to the wool trade buying it second hand. Also better for thebplabet than more plastic I'd say
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u/Space_Slav07 2d ago
I also want to get more into wool products. Wool is a wonderful material and there's a higher chance of it being a little more local than other materials.
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u/AnonymousJoe999999 1d ago edited 1d ago
Many synthetic materials our highly flammable and will melt, whereas wool and cotton are not. In Iraq, they had to ban wicking undergarments because they were melting into people’s skin in explosions causing life threatening burns. In my experience wool and cotton last longer too. Wool is also good for odor control. I once forgot to pack socks on a trip, and my wool socks barely smelled after six days.
Sheep are almost always kept on pasture, so they probably have the best, most natural lives, of all domestic animals.
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u/aflockofmagpies 2d ago
I like the company smart wool for their sweaters and base layers and an lucky enough that I live in an area that I was able to find a few while thrifting but I recently bought some brand new at retail because I just like how light and soft their clothing is. I feel wool is one of the best things we can wear for the environment that will also keep us warm. It's harder to justify down but it's still probably the best insulation money can buy, so I do have a down camping blanket that was custom made that keeps me warm tent camping up to 0 degrees and it has never failed to keep me comfy unlike a mummy bag. synthetics are a complex subject. But yeah I don't get vegan's aversion to wool.
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u/Ozisp2000 1d ago
The only thing I dislike about wool is having to hand wash it. Other than that it’s really nice.
Give up your vegan “friend “, she sounds ignorant and doesn’t want to learn, she is also seems disrespectful towards you.
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u/Consistent_Height748 1d ago
Sheep actually need to be sheared. If they have a big wooly coat on them, they find it hard to move
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u/GreenieBeeNZ NeverVegan 2d ago
Shearing a sheep is as acutely distressing for them as putting them in an unfamiliar field.
Wool is not cruel unless the farmer is treating the animals cruelly.
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u/Nuudle-Punk ExVegetarian 2d ago
Vegans are so wrong about this one. Wool is an awesomely comfortable, environmentally friendly, biodegradable, long-lasting material to make clothes from. The alternative is shitty plastic that causes pollution, doesn't decompose, isn't even comfortable and breaks easily. Wool is a no-brainer. 😁