Key Points
- Solidwool turns coarse Herdwick and Welsh Mountain fleece into a 50:50 wool–bio-resin composite, leveraging wool’s natural elasticity for rigid, ergonomic parts (e.g., the Hembury Chair).
- The bio-resin uses ~50% renewable content from industrial waste streams; the supplier reports ~33% lower production emissions than petrochemical resins, while improving shop-floor toxicity profiles.
- Supply is UK-centric: fleece from British farmers, ash legs from local makers, and recycled-steel frames fabricated in Peterborough to cut transport footprint and keep value in regional networks.
- Design language is restrained to foreground the fibre’s visual texture; the brand aims for longevity over trend, positioning “keep-in-use” durability as the primary sustainability lever.
- Beyond furniture, Solidwool is scaling sheet goods and components (guitars, sunglasses, buttons, cabinetry), signalling a path to replace petro-based composites in small hard-goods.
Full interview with Solidwool
Can you walk us through the journey of turning Herdwick and Welsh Mountain wool, traditionally undervalued, into a high-performance composite material?
Back in 2013, we decided to take something unwanted and abundant, hardy British wool fleece, and turn it into something beautiful, believing that good design shouldn’t compromise our environment. These are principles we continue to work by today.
British wool, namely Herdwick and Welsh Mountain fleece, is coarse, wiry, and difficult to dye, but these natural properties hold potential and remain largely underutilised. We’ve always hoped that, with the right design and application, we can increase the demand for and value of British wool.
The result is Solidwool, a strong, unique composite. We use Solidwool to make sheet materials and furniture. Our Hembury Chairs and Side Tables, crafted from this composite, showcase its beauty and versatility.
We've been fine-tuning the material and manufacturing process for several years now. Wool is used as the reinforcement, and bio-resin serves as the binder, resulting in a composite that is 50% wool and 50% bio-resin. The material has a beautiful visual texture, thanks to the coarse nature and organic colour of the fleece. This texture is captured and celebrated in the composite. Wool also possesses natural elasticity and strength, providing flexible reinforcement, an unmatched property for an ergonomic chair.
How does the inclusion of bio-resin waste streams align with the broader goal of circular material design?
The quality and integrity of our product are paramount to us. The bio-resins we use contain 50% bio-based renewable content, sourced from waste streams of other industrial processes, such as wood pulp from the paper industry and biofuel production. The bio-resin manufacturer reports a 33% reduction in carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions during production compared to traditional petrochemical-based resins. Additionally, the green chemistry of bio-resins eliminates many harmful toxins, making them more pleasant for us to work with.
Using bio-resin allows us to create a strong and durable composite with a lower environmental impact. Over the past few years, we’ve worked to increase the wool content and reduce the bio-resin content. Currently, our composite consists of 50% wool and 50% bio-resin, nearly twice as much wool as in our early designs.
That doesn’t mean we’re going to sit back and relax; we’re constantly striving to evolve and improve. We hope bio-resin technology will continue to advance with growing demand, and we will follow those developments closely.
Can you share the philosophy behind designing timeless furniture pieces like the Hembury Chair with Solidwool?
William Morris famously wrote, “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” Guided by these principles, we create Solidwool to be both functional and aesthetically pleasing. Our goal is for our furniture to be cherished, but above all, used.
Sustainable practices involve more than just thoughtful material choices; if a piece is designed with timeless elegance, it can be handed down through generations, remaining both useful and beautiful for years to come.
How do the visual and tactile qualities of Herdwick and Welsh Mountain wool influence the design of your products?
The Hembury Chair and Side Table are designed with simplicity in mind, to highlight the material. The construction and materials are refined and straightforward, with minimal lines and curves that draw attention to the material itself.
We finish our Hembury furniture with UK-sourced ash legs, available in an oiled or scorched finish, and offer the option of stackable recycled steel legs for the chairs. These understated design features allow the material to tell its own story.
How do you ensure the supply chain aligns with Solidwool’s commitment to supporting British farmers and reducing carbon footprints?
We work closely with the wool industry to source fleece from specific breeds, focusing on wool that is deemed undesirable or difficult to use. British Wool first introduced us to the Herdwick breed during the development of our material. We were told it was one of the most undervalued, due to its robust, wiry nature and resistance to dye. The cost of shearing a sheep can often exceed the price farmers receive for the fleece, especially with hardy British breeds. We chose these breeds for exactly this reason: to highlight their importance and demonstrate their value.
We source all our materials within the UK, reducing both the carbon footprint of our company and the products we create. UK-sourced ash legs are crafted by a local wood-turner in Devon, while our frames and stackable steel legs are made in Peterborough using recycled steel. The entire moulding and construction process takes place in our Devon workshop, carried out by our skilled team. By limiting ourselves to a small network of trusted suppliers, we ensure our ethos and standards are upheld across the board.
What role does heritage and locality play in shaping the identity of Solidwool as a material and brand?
Heritage and locality are woven into the very fibres of our material. The Herdwick sheep have shaped the landscape of the Lake District for centuries, and this rugged upland terrain, in turn, is responsible for the breed’s wiry fleece and resilient nature. The Herdwick’s natural instinct keeps them tethered to the place they have always known, with knowledge of their surroundings passed down from ewe to lamb. This deep connection to place is why around 95% of the breed can be found within 14 miles of Coniston Water.
The idea behind Solidwool was born from a need to re-evaluate the value of Herdwick wool and address the decline of ‘wool towns’ across the UK that once thrived with industry. This drive to rejuvenate local materials and industries is the inspiration behind our company.
How do you envision expanding Solidwool’s applications beyond furniture and into other product categories or industries?
Solidwool is still a relatively niche product, and we’re eager to spread the word. Our aim is to continue developing the material and refining our processes while keeping a close eye on advances in bio-resin technology. The future of Solidwool and its potential lies in the imagination of innovative, forward-thinking companies.
We’ve already seen Solidwool used in guitars, sunglasses, knife handles, buttons, furniture, and cabinetry. Its applications are truly limitless. Our goal is to connect this unique material with the right people, enabling it to be used as a sustainable alternative to petrochemical-based composites.
Solidwool is a material with soul, a product full of possibility.
