I wrote a letter and they wrote me back! The same day!

I was just reading to my six year old this evening Ramona's World, The adult letter.  In the story, Ramona and he friend write a letter to a salesman who misuses the English language in an advertisement.  they get a letter back and they are so excited about this prospect!  Well this happened to me today!  I wrote Ibex asking them about their wool and how they claim to be sustainable, and they wrote right back.  Their letter still left me with unnswered questions about where their sheep grow and where their factories are...but I wrote him back (see the bottom) and asked these questions.  It is exciting to look into this, and to have a response from a company who actually seems to take some serious consideration to the sustainable and ecological and socially responsible development of clothes is refreshing.  It helps me on my quest to buy only clothes that are sustainably grown...which will be tough...not sure i can swing it.

Anneliese,

Thank you for your email.

Ibex takes a great deal of pride in our selection process of which farms we will work with. No sheep has ever been slaughtered for meat after the shearing process, we use the same farms with the same sheep year after year.  Ibex currently has 70% of our products that are Zque certified. Zque fibre combines natural performance wool with an accreditation program that ensures environmental, social and economic sustainability, animal welfare (non-mulesed) and traceability back to the source. I have attached a link to the Z’Que web site for your review so you can see the high standards that all farms are held to before Ibex will consider using their wool. www.dicoverzque.com

As for dying our fabrics, our wool is minimally processed when it comes to chemicals. The greasy wool (sheared from the farm) is put through baths that clean mostly with water and may use a little soap.  The wool is combed to get the debris out. If it is a washable fabric we use the Hercoset process to gently remove a minimal amount of the barbs so the fabric will not felt together which makes the fabric shrink. The Hercoset process uses chlorine and resin.  It is a closed loop process concerning the environment.  This happens at the cleaning step. At the spinning, the wool is further combed and cleaned and then spun into yarn. If it is a felted or milled fabric it basically is just washed using soap and water before and after it is dyed. All they dyes we use are the best environmentally, they do not contain heavy metals. The washing/final finish uses basic soap and water. At the end of the fabric process all the fabrics are tested to make sure they are PH balanced.

Please let us know if you have any further questions about Ibex or the practices we use with our wool. Thanks and have a great day!

Tim Barrett

Customer Service Representative

Ibex Outdoor Clothing

132 Ballardvale Drive

White River Junction, VT 05001

800-773-9647

tbarrett@ibex.com

HI there, thank you for your quick response.  I am curious where the sheep live that you purchase your wool from?  In the US?  Also, I was wondering where your factories are that put the clothes together?  Are those in Vermont?

Thanks again, your input is extremely helpful and I was very pleased to see such a detailed response. I will look at the links you sent me and look at all the information more in depth, I was just wondering those questions as I read on.

Thanks,

Anneliese