Care Guide - Glerups
Wool is temperature regulating
Many people use wool to keep warm, but in fact wool can also help keep the body cool. That's because wool absorbs moisture without feeling damp, up to 70% by weight by the way! - This significantly outperforms synthetic fibers or cotton. It is particularly advantageous in the summer when it is hot outside. This way no matter how much you perspire you can stay feeling dry and temperature regulated.
- “Wool has always been used by both children and adults. It has a natural ability to adapt to the body's needs in all weather conditions, and it also "controls" the indoor climate in a room. That's why it boosts one's overall well-being year-round, inside and out,” explains Hadleigh Smith, Market Development Manager, New Zealand Merino Company, which supplies our New Zealand wool to glerups.
Wool is self-cleaning
Wool is a natural product with self-cleaning properties. This is due to the natural fat of the wool fiber, lanolin. As the sheep get wet, a process is created between the lanolin and the sheep's natural basic salts from perspiration, which together form a natural soap that cleans the wool. To some extent, we benefit from the same characteristics when the wool is transformed into a blouse or a pair of slippers. Therefore, it is not necessary to wash wool products very often - in fact, they are better off just being left to breathe for a nice day in the garden. Yet another benefit for you and nature.
Wool is breathable
Wool is not only sweat-absorbent, but also breathable, naturally! Wool regulates the temperature on the skin, the same way in fact it would for the sheep in nature. This is why you can easily wear wool when you are active in the forest, on the beach or at home in the garden because it transports moisture away from the body. Of course, this also applies to the feet. Just be aware that wool works best on bare skin, which is why we recommend using your slippers with no socks. Bare feet are always best for glerups!
A natural product
Precisely because the wool is a natural product, very small vegetable fibers (grass or straw) may appear in the felt from time to time. We at glerups choose not to chemically strip our wool to prevent this from happening - we feel it also helps show how natural your footwear is!
Your glerups will typically shed for the first 3-5 weeks you wear them. This is usually due to the natural treatment of our wool and the compression underfoot to create your own custom footbed. If you find your slippers have started to shed, you just simply remove the woolen nappies and continue to use your glerups quite normally. This process will subside over time. You will also experience color differences from production to production - this is also natural when working with 100% wool as glerups choose to use non toxic chemicals to dye our colors. Variation means you will get a pair unique to you!