What is So Special About Merino Wool?

Merino Wool Is Not Itchy

Here at YALA, your comfort is at the heart of everything we do. Creating garments that feel incredible on your skin day after day is just as important to us as our commitment to using natural, ethically sourced fibers. This is why we've discounted wool in the past, finding it a bit too itchy to meet our standards. 

Enter New Zealand Merino Wool. After experimenting with this impressive fiber, we began weaving it into insulating underlayers for people who share our high standards of softness. As a result, our SuperFine Merino Wool Comfort Layers have earned the assurance of comfort that only a YALA tag provides. It's incredibly soft and smooth to the touch. It's wool for people who love bamboo!

But Why Isn't Merino Wool Itchy?

Merino wool is a finer, more flexible fiber than regular wool that moves with the curves of your body, whereas traditional wool is more stiff and pokey. These characteristics make it much softer on the skin for all-day comfort.

YALA Wool is Gently Sourced and Harvested

Once we've decided that a potential fiber can attain that YALA-soft feel, we focus on sustainability and social responsibility. Can it be harvested thoughtfully and intentionally in a way that reduces harm and truly supports the people, animals, and environment that produce it?

First, you want to look for a Responsible Wool Standard certification, which YALA has achieved. This certification ensures that the New Zealand Merino sheep that produce our wool get treated humanely.

We are fortunate to source our SuperFine merino wool from a handful of small family farms on the northern tip of New Zealand's South Island, where our long-time production partner lives. They raise Saxon Merino Sheep and share our commitment to organic farming and humane animal care. These photos of open-air grazing land, thriving sheep, and their caretakers are from these farms. We can trace every bale of our wool to them.

Is Merino Wool Better Than Regular Wool?

Once our wool is gently harvested, we weave it into soft, smooth, and versatile comfort layers that do slow, chilly mornings around the house just as well as they rock epic outdoor adventures. They come with wool's natural properties of being insulating, breathable, quick-drying, moisture-wicking, and odor-resistant without any of the traditional discomfort, which makes them superior in our book. This isn't your Mama's wool. You have to feel it to believe it.

How Do You Wash Merino Wool? 

Those odor-resistant properties we spoke of previously mean that you can often wear a merino wool shirt for several days without needing to wash it. Instead, hang it up to air out, and it's ready for the next day!

When it comes time to clean, simply machine or hand wash in cold, on a gentle cycle, with like colors. Do not use bleach. Reshape and hang or lay flat to dry. For longer life: Wear more. Wash less.

Feeling is Believing

Stay warm and cozy with YALA SuperFine Merino Wool Comfort Layers in several styles for men and women: 

Merino Wool Track Jacket

Merino Wool Long Sleeve Shirt 

Merino Wool Leggings 

Merino Wool Short Sleeve Tee

Merino Wool Tank Top

Merino Wool Beanie Hat