Why Wool: Three Reasons to Love Our Signature Blend

You might say I’m passionate about our fine merino wool and rayon from bamboo yarn blend, but it’s with great cause. This innovative material was designed and produced with a singular focus: your wearing experience.

Written by: Thomas Lee, Partner and Yarn Designer

Most people get caught up in the hunt for the most comfortable, fashionable or durable shoes and forget an (arguably more) important factor to healthy, happy feet—the right socks.

That’s why our fine merino wool blends, spun with rayon from bamboo or alpaca, have become the root of all our products, originating hand-in-hand with the Sockwell brand (formerly Goodhew) back in 2008. And ever since then, wool has been the constant to designing and creating socks that provide comfort, drive performance and reduce odor, all with a whole lot of style.

The recipe is simple. The wool in our socks is as essential to our brand as flour is to cake. We are strong believers that there is no other fiber with better all-around performance characteristics than wool. From its natural temperature-regulating properties to its durability and flexibility, our socks are knit to keep even the toughest feet happy.

Perform Better Year-Round

Unlike cotton, wool is naturally thermoregulating. Like a well-insulated house, it helps cool your feet in the summer and provide warmth and insulation in the winter.  Plus, it’s able to absorb up to 30% of its own weight in moisture, leaving the microclimate around your feet drier as the wool absorbs moisture from the feet and efficiently evaporates it away.  After all, less moisture means less bacteria, and less bacteria means fresher, happier feet—so you can perform your best year-round.

Durable, Soft and Resilient

With the amount of wear your socks endure over time, finding a hole in your favorite pair of socks is almost inevitable. But it’s time to say goodbye to peeping toes and hello to durability and wearability. A good pair of wool socks will last you years, compared to lesser-quality materials that stretch, tear and discolor in just a few washes.

In the finer micron counts, wool is very soft and provides a comfort-driven experience.  Wool also has natural crimp in its fiber, which creates incredible resilience to the yarn and enhances the cushioning aspects of the sock—blending comfort and durability for an all-day fit.

American Grown, Machine Washable

Our fine merino wool is grown in our own backyard—by way of Rambouillet sheep raised throughout the North American mountain region. Following harvest, our wool is processed and spun in South Carolina, allowing us to sustain a compact, carbon-reducing footprint through the process. 

And before our socks make it to your washer, they’ve gone through a super-washing process so there’s absolutely no shrinkage with each wash. What’s more, we promise wool-blended socks that are machine washable, so your socks preserve the same tailored fit they had the first time you slipped them on.  

But our socks wouldn’t have quite the same softness, breathability and natural sheen without our bamboo yarn. This luxurious, natural fiber soaks dye beautifully, empowering our designer to explore creative freedom with a palette of over 45 hues.  

Our fine merino wool and rayon from bamboo yarn blend was designed and produced with a singular focus in mind—your wearing experience. Not only can you feel good about the sourcing of Sockwell sock materials, but you can throw them on, wash them week after week, and dub them your new go-tos, knowing they’ll outperform the neighboring socks in your drawer. 

There’s no doubt our signature wool/bamboo-based socks provide performance, comfort and confidence year round. Its power provides an experience like no other—once you go wool, you’ll never go back.