What materials does Jeez use for its products?

Merino Wool & Chunky Cotton

Wool and cotton are both natural materials. No factory is needed to produce them, the materials are reusable.... That is already a point of similarity. All my cushions and plaids have the same "look": coarsely knitted with large, sturdy, stitches. But otherwise.... the materials differ considerably, each with its own pros and cons. Below, I give you detailed information on both materials, so you can choose a product based on what's important to you!

Merino wool

To start with something unpleasant: mulesing. If you have no idea what that means: to prevent a deadly infection (myiasis) in sheep, the fleece and skin are around the rear of the sheep are cut off, sometimes even without anaesthetic. Animal abuse with a capital D that I absolutely abhor. From my Dutch supplier I buy wool produced in countries where mulesing is prohibited (New Zealand, since 2018) and not common (South America, because of the cooler climate no or little chance of myiasis). Unfortunately there is no quality mark yet, so I can't give you a 100% guarantee however.... the chance of me working with "wrong" merino is negligible. The wool is dyed in Europe according to the Oeko-tex-100 standard, which means that no harmful chemicals are used for humans and / or the environment.

Wool is a natural product, nice & warm and soft but all wools fluff a little. Merino wool too. You can remove the fluff carefully, preferably with scissors. If you start pulling on the fluff, you run the risk of taking along extra wool. The merino wool is almost unprocessed, so it is very delicate. Therefore, cat nails and a merino wool plaid are not a good match! During use, the wool will loose its fluffyness a bit. The more intensively you use your plaid or cushion, the faster you will see this happen (logical, right?). 

The wool will therefore lose some of its volume over time. This certainly happens when you wash the wool, which is one of the reasons why I don't recommend washing merino wool. First of all, the weight of the wool increases considerably, which might make your washing machine unhappy. Secondly, washing causes the wool to felt (the more careful you are - i.e. wash with cold water, no spinning and no use of fabric softener!- the smaller the effect. Perhaps a visit to a dry cleaner's is worth considering (always ask for advice on the spot!) but.... there's still a risk of some felting). Felting causes you to lose (part of) the fluffyness but also makes the wool much stronger. That's why the woollen chair cushions - soon to be available from my webshop! - receive a special pre-treatment; they have to be warm & soft, but also be able to take a beating!

Actually, washing is not necessary as wool is naturally dirt-repellent. And if your plaid or cushion no longer smells so good, it is sufficient to let it air in the open air! But the biggest advantage of (merino) wool: it's moisture and heat regulating. Your plaid or cushion is therefore pretty resistant to odors and a plaid keeps you cool in the summer (well, comparatively speaking, huh?) and in the winter you will never be cold under it!

Chunky & Midi Cotton

My Dutch supplier guarantees that the cotton I buy from her is made according to the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) label. So you can be sure that the cotton is sourced and processed in a sustainable, socially responsible & environmentally friendly way. As you can see in the shop, the chunky cotton products are more expensive than the merino wool ones. If you wonder why: making the cotton tube - which is filled with a hollow polyester fibre - takes a lot of time and well... time is money.

The chunky and midi cotton consists of a cotton tube, filled with hollow polyester filling. The advantage of the hollow polyester filling is that it is permanently resilient, so the fluffyness is retained even after washing. The cotton exterior is, however, delicate; it can get snags. You can easily remove these with a needle (do not cut, because then you cut the thread!!!).

You can wash the cotton, but tit's heavier than merino wool. So if you're going to wash it.... you have to look very carefully at the weight your machine can handle. When you're considering what material to buy a plaid from, remember that weight always comes into play! A cotton plaid feels heavier to sit or lie under than a merino wool one. Also, the moisture and temperature regulating effect of chunky cotton is not as optimal as that of the merino wool variant.

The very, very biggest advantage of chunky cotton? The material is suitable for people who are allergic to wool! Also people with contact lenses will be happier with this material than the slightly fluffy merino wool. It may seem obvious but.... you just have to think of it, right?

Jute

The 100% natural & fair trade jute I work with is produced by a sustainable family business in Brazil. The jute is grown in the Amazon region -I can already hear you thinking "oh oh"- but: no forest has to be cut down for it and it grows without the use of artificial fertiliser and/or pesticides. The jute fibres are fully biodegradable and only natural dyes are used to create the beautiful colours. It should therefore be clear that colours may vary from batch to batch as may/will my end products in time.... So if you want to be assured of the same colour: order everything at once.

The jute can be washed, handwash only. The colours may rub off, so take care when washing: do not wash jute products of different colours together and watch out for splashes when wearing a white shirt! The jute cannot/may not be steamed and DO NOT put it in the dryer after washing (it will not end well).

Pots

All my pots are so-called 2nd chances. I scour markets and thrift shops looking for nicely shaped vases and pots, the colour doesn't matter as long as I like the shape. Then I get creative with primer, wall filler and water-based paint and voila: "one of a kind" aged pots are the result. The insides are not touched, so in theory you can use the pots as real vases. But they are meant as decoration objects, the outside has a water repellent layer..... which means that it is not permanently resistant to water. I therefore advise you to work with dry decorative branches and flowers and to wipe the outside of the pot with a dry (dust)cloth. This way you keep your 2nd life pot beautiful for eternity... and you are really doing something sustainable. 

How nice is it to add a pot to your own, unique, interior that no one else has? Too nice, so take a look at the current offer of pots