The days are growing longer as we move toward the Spring Equinox and the clock just sprung forward for most of us in the US, causing us to lose an hour of precious sleep. Monday March 13th is National Napping Day (no doubt to help us catch up that lost hour), and Friday March 17th is World Sleep Day. So it makes perfect sense that March is National Sleep Awareness Month.
We learned in a previous post the surprising truth that wool keeps us cool in the summer, but wool also obviously keeps us warm in the winter. (Who doesn’t love wrapping up in a wool blanket by the fire?) The not so well-known part about wool is how it keeps us warm.
Wool has an amazing ability to hold heat in a couple of different ways. The first way is through small pockets of air in the fibers of the wool that circulate heat. This circulation allows heat to move toward you when you’re cold and away from you when you’re hot.
The second way wool holds in heat is through a protein in the wool called keratin. Keratin is actually a characteristic that all animal hair has to help regulate their body temperature. It works as a sort of insulation for your body.
The amazing thing about wool is that, even if it gets wet, it still continues to keep you warm. So, if you feel bad for a herd of sheep standing out in the middle of a cold rain, don’t! They’re actually quite warm and dry because “wool is also able to soak up as much as 30 percent of its own weight in moisture without feeling wet, which is one of the reasons it can still keep you warm even in the rain.”
In addition to its ability to hold in heat, wool is self-cleaning and resistant to mold and mildew. It is also naturally fire resistant.
Wool bedding is the best option whether it’s hot, cold or somewhere in-between. At Shepherd’s Dream, we pride ourselves in providing the highest quality wool available. Try our organic, hypoallergenic wool mattresses and bedding to see how you can sleep your natural best.
