WoolAid disrupts the $3B industry with wool bandages using biodegradable fabric.
WoolAid, a New Zealand-based start-up, brings sustainable innovation to the first-aid market with the world’s first merino wool adhesive bandage. The brand, which debuted at Outdoor Retailer 2022, won the coveted Product of the Year Award for 2023, driving retail interest and consumer awareness in the U.S. market. WoolAid’s highly breathable merino wool bandages were quickly picked up by Outdoor Retailers nationwide, including REI.
New Zealand wool apparel has been a mainstay in the outdoor industry for years, with performance and breathability as lead selling points. WoolAid founder Lucas Smith, a mountain guide and outdoorsman, grew tired of seeing plastic bandages on the trails. He saw an opportunity in a stagnant market with a renewable resource. Smith sought a better solution to heal wounds in the backcountry as the billions of plastic bandages being brought into the world every year continued to promote litter.
“The aha moment came in discovering that when woven exceptionally fine, wool naturally creates the ideal, medical grade, healing environment,” said Smith.
Wool regulates the moisture and temperature levels around a wound and surrounding skin. Standard bandage material today does exactly the opposite. Waterlogged, macerated skin has been the accepted standard in wound care due to limits of materials like plastic which trap moisture, flooding skin cells.
“We realized that wearing a ‘skin colored’ plastic bandage on your finger is really a badge – no one wants to be seen making a choice that is so blatantly bad for the planet and humanity, we can do better,” he added.
WoolAid’s proprietary ultra-fine merino wool fabric is not only sustainably sourced but it is also proven to biodegrade in just four months when buried in the soil. By comparison, research shows that standard plastic bandages take 300+ days to begin breaking down.
Bold colors and patterns inspired by nature, art, pop culture, and fashion replace ‘‘skin-colored” bandages in their range. In their return to Outdoor Retailer, WoolAid is engaging key partners with like-minded brands to drive creative collaboration in prints, patterns, and colorways for 2024 and beyond.
WoolAid is available exclusively via retail in convenient multipacks featuring mixed sizes and colors:
- Outdoor packs (larger pack of 3 x XL ‘Alpine blue’ and 12 x regular ‘Granite grey’), $9.99
- Emergency packs (2 x XL ‘Alpine blue’ and 3 x regular ‘Granite grey’), $5.99
- Wellness packs (5 x square ‘Red rock’, 10 x regular ‘Granite grey’), $7.99
About WoolAid
WoolAid is the leader in bringing sustainable innovation to the first-aid market utilizing responsibly sourced New Zealand merino wool. Founded with an ethos to heal people and the planet, WoolAid created the World’s first hyperfine merino wool bandages. The patented, medical-grade adhesive bandages were developed utilizing a proprietary hyperfine weaving process. WoolAid adhesive bandages are available exclusively at retail in New Zealand and the US. For more information, visit: www.woolaid.com
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