A $147,000 grant from Country Road has paved the way for a successful trial of turning low-value Australian wool into high-value yarn and fabric.
Social enterprise Full Circle Fibres was awarded the grant in 2023 via Country Road’s Climate Fund, in order to pursue its Mud to Marle project.
The project was run in collaboration with Deakin University’s Institute for Frontier Materials (IFM) and textile manufacturer Loomtex. According to the project group, the initiative sought to challenge industry norms by rethinking how lower grade wool fibres could be repurposed for fine yarn applications rather than being relegated to chunky knitwear or homewares.
Full Circle Fibres owner and founder Meriel Chamberlin said about 3 to 5 per cent of a Merino fleece consists of shorter fibres known as ‘locks’.
“These shorter fibres are perceived as having a lower value than the rest of the fleece and tend to be used in homewares or for chunkier knit garments as it is difficult to process them into fine yarn,” Chamberlin said. “ In our project, we sourced locks from South Australia and blended the fibres with cotton from Queensland. The wool cotton blend yarn we’ve created is finer than yarn normally made with locks.”
Despite producing world-renowned wool, Australia reportedly lacks the infrastructure to process raw fibre on a commercial scale.
The Mud to Marle project sought to prove the viability of end-to-end onshore production, conducting trials at various locations including Deakin University’s Future Fibres Facility at the Institute for Frontier Materials — one of the only Australian facilities capable of processing and spinning short staple fibre, like the wool 'locks' used in this project.
“Through the project we wanted to explore methods that reduce resource use while still delivering a viable, highquality textile product,” Associate Professor Christopher Hurren said. “One of the ways we did this was by dyeing only the wool fibres within the wool-cotton blend, reducing water and energy consumption in this process.”
“The project shows the potential to produce garments in Australia with Australian fibres.”
The project has also unlocked an additional $300,000 for a three-year industry partnership to continue Deakin’s research into wool cotton product.
“The commercial spinning capacity in Australia is incredibly limited, which presents a significant barrier to scaling production,” Chamberlin said. “But the learnings from this project have helped demonstrate demand and investment potential.
“There is growing momentum to revive Australia’s textile manufacturing capabilities.”
With samples of the Mud to Marle wool-cotton blend now tested in prototype garments – including T-shirts, jumpers, pants, and skirts – Chamberlin confirmed this is just the beginning.
“The Mud to Marle project has proven that there is a future for fully domestic, low-impact textile manufacturing in Australia. Now, we need to focus on scaling these innovations and ensuring their long-term commercial viability.”