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13. Implications and applications

This week focuses on each participant’s final project proposal, following the global lecture by Oscar Tomico from Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e).

Research & Concept

Context
Woolshed is a EU project aiming to revitalize the Alpine wool value chain and explore ways to unlock the potential of often discarded wool through design, innovation and small-scale technologies.

Thônes et Marthod wool is a French rustic fiber with low fashion applications and strong territorial and cultural identity. I had the chance to experiment with it during Fabricademy program and is the main material I am using for the final project.

Despite its qualities, rustic wool is frequently undervalued due to coarse fiber characteristics and the high costs of conventional wool treatments. As a result, large quantities of wool are treated as waste, especially within small-scale and local production contexts.

Fabricademy alumni and projects that inspired me

References & Inspiration

Publications

Sustainable Local Initiatives

  • Les Chemins de Laine is a French facility suitable for washing and carding small wool quantities. The owner uses rainwater and smart systems to wash the wool.

  • Défrise ton mouton is a French association promoting Thônes and Marthod wool. Sandrine, one of the founders, creates felted pieces and experiments with wool processing techniques.

Innovative Wool Machines

  • Felt like a sheep by Guilhem de Cazenove is a mobile wool-processing workshop that travels between shepherds, transforming raw fleece into worked products.
  • Wool tools is an ongoing research project by Atelier Luma in collaboration with AATB Group. It intends to examine the needle felting technology by combining it with the benefits of robotic manufacturing. I discovered this project only after starting my work this week and I find it remarkably aligned with our own experiments.

Alternative Wool Applications

  • Pinhadar® by Arrosia is a 100% natural composite panel made from pine resin and fibers, suitable for design applications.

  • Solid wool is a design company that makes a strong composite material from 50% wool and 50% bio-resin.

  • Brebey ("sheep" in local language) is a Sardinian company that produces sustainable panels made from sheep’s wool.

pin Credits: Arrosia

solid Credits: Solid wool

bre Photo credit: Brebey

  • Woollets is a US-based initiative that transforms surplus wool into biodegradable wool pellets used as soil amendments to improve water retention and soil health. This approach has also raised interest among some sheep farmers in France, however its implementation currently faces regulatory and administrative challenges.

Experimental Bio‑Coloration

  • Faber Futures is a London‑based biodesign studio exploring how living systems, such as pigment‑producing bacteria, can dye textiles with drastically reduced water use.

  • Exteria is a pilot project by Colorifix / Albini_next exploring dyeing with microbial pigments to reduce the use of water and chemicals.

What, Why, Who, When, Where?

What

Wool & Flow: Water-Saving Wool System which consists of cleaning, transforming, and coloring rustic wool beyond conventional textile applications.

The system is composed of four independent buckets, enabling flexible and small-scale project planning.

Washing: Suint Fermentation

The fermentation technique allows the use of low-water, static baths in which the natural salts (suint) present in wool act as a soap. The idea is to test the traditional process and explore how it can be applied in a small-scale context.

Felting: Wet and Needle Felting

This bucket starts from the observation and understanding of existing felting processes and machines and aims to reflect on how some manual movements,such as rolling or repetitive up-and-down needle actions, could be rethought through low-tech approaches, where machines are not available.

Bio-materials: Bio-resine and binders

This area focuses on experiments with natural ingredients (e.g. starch, alginate and mycelium) to explore non-textile applications of wool, such as insulation. No preliminary washing is required and the process uses little to no water.

Experiments started during Fabricademy in Week 7 - Biomaterials and Week 10 - Textile Scaffold.

Biochromic: Tannin & Micro baths

This bucket tests coloring techniques based on natural ingredients using contact methods or low-water micro-baths. Experiments will be also conducted on wet-felted wool in order to explore how fiber structure influences color absorption.

Note: the proposals for each pilar have been refined during the initial project planning, as outlined on the Concept page.

Expected outcome
The project aims to produce clear documentation of processes and related tests to guide and inspire small-scale wool production. Physical samples may be developed to illustrate experiments and to collect feedback from the community.

Why

  • Wool process includes high water-impact stages, but water is a scarce resource, highlighting the need for sustainable methods.

  • Limited infrastructure and high costs make access difficult for small-scale producers, leaving much rustic wool unprocessed and often disposed of illegally.

  • The project aligns with Woolshed partners’ priorities and is supported by data from market studies.

  • Wool has potential far beyond traditional textiles, including design, architecture and material innovation.

Who

Woolshed partners represent the primary target group of the project, followed by local artisans and wool associations. However, the initiative can be extended to a wider range of actors, such as institutions supporting sustainability projects and labs interested in replicating or collaborating on processes.

When

The project will be developed over a three-month period (January–March 2026) and is intended to serve as a starting point for broader experimentation in the following months.

A proposed timeline is presented in the accompanying slide and milestones may be adjusted as the project evolves.

While no formal event for testing and collecting feedback from the local community was initially planned, interest emerged during project presentation and Oscar Tomico encouraged the inclusion of the audience from the early stages of the project, framing parts of the process as workshops or testing sessions. This suggestion resonated with Fabricademy experiences such as Little Wool Factory workshop.

Where

The project is primarily based in France and involves Woolshed partners across multiple countries, including France, Switzerland, Italy, and Slovenia.

In addition, I am from Sardinia, a Mediterranean island where Sarda wool shares similar properties with French rustic wool. This creates the opportunity to extend and adapt the proposed applications to the Sardinian context.

Slide show

Presentation is also available in pdf format here.

Wool Network Insights

On December 10th, I discussed the project idea with Sandrine Chandevault and Marion Real, key figures of the EU Woolshed project in France. Sandrine noted that water availability is a major challenge and both offered valuable suggestions for developing the proposal.

Later in December, I gathered initial feedback from the Sardinian network. The island lacks infrastructure for wool processing, so most wool is sent to India or China for washing or discarded. Sardinia is known for its carpets and some local entrepreneurs have shown interest in exploring new approaches, like those proposed in this project, to rethink this noble but undervalued material.

Further research and updated data collection will continue in the coming months.

Feedback from Fabricademy community

Name Comment
Oscar Focus on the most important steps of the process, work in parallel so you can involve the community as soon as possible.
Anastasia I like the idea of working in parallel because you will also see which one triggers you more to deep dive into.
Claudia The practice and the workshop is definitely part of the final outcome, still you have specific applications in mind? A goal in mind? Very nice and complete presentation! You can probably connect with the os hardware week, developing or co-creating a series of tools for processing/washing the wool/advancing the practice.
Nuria You may know about shemakes.eu project.
Louise Looking forward to see the outcomes, i think oscar is right with introducing your work already through workshop as this will help gather information, feedback and strenghen community in the meantime. Good luck with your project :)
Carolina Loved that you pick wool because there is a real need!
Annie Super! it's Also a global problem, in quebec we live similar problematic where we lost knowledge and tools to treat the wool so our wool is trash. Your project have a great potential for reproduction and remix if you introduce tools and educational resources to facilitate the remix and the share back or experience.
Porpla Fabricademy Alumna Margaret have worked a lot with wool too i think https://class.textile-academy.org/2023/margret-guttormsdottir/ in case you want to reach her out.