What is merino wool and how do BUFF® make their Merino products?

Merino wool is a 100% natural fiber that comes from an Australian breed of sheep. 

Merino wool is a fiber valued for its outstanding qualities that enhance the outdoor experience for enthusiasts. 

It’s versatile, perfect for base layers in any season due to its temperature-regulating properties, and offers a soft, comfortable feel against the skin in a variety of clothing, including our neck and head accessories. 

It’s also crucial to know about the different weights of Merino wool and understand how these weights significantly affect your comfort and cold protection. Let’s explore them! 

The weight of your next Merino snood is determined by the fabric’s mass per unit area. The higher the grams per square meter, the snugger, cozier, and more protective against the cold it will be. 

With that in mind, Merino wool typically comes in 3 weights: 

• Fine (around 125 g/m²) 
• Medium (around 250 g/m²) 
• Broad (above 300 g/m²) 

Lightweight Merino is typically around 125 g/m². Our Merino Lightweight neck gaiters and beanies are made from this fine wool, providing a low-profile base layer that’s ideal for cool weather and moderate-intensity activities. 

BUFF® fine weight options:  

• Merino Lightweight neckwear 
• Merino Lightweight beanies 

Medium-weight Merino wool, around 250 g/m². It strikes a balance between warmth and comfort. Our Merino Midweight neckwear and Merino Midweight beanies are crafted from this wool, providing natural versatility for use in both cool and cold weather, offering moderate insulation and breathability. 

BUFF® medium weight options:  

• Merino Move (200g) 
• Merino Midweight (250g) 
• Merino Midweight beanies (250g) 

Our Broad Merino wool is the thickest option available, typically weighing over 300 g/m². 

The neck warmers and beanies in our Merino Heavyweight line are crafted from a sturdy 500 g/m² wool, offering the utmost in warmth and cold protection. 

Designed for the toughest conditions, they provide exceptional comfort and insulation when you need it most. 

BUFF® broad weight options: 

• Merino Heavyweight neck warmer (500 g) 
• Merino Heavyweight beanies (500 g) 

The different weights of Merino wool have a direct impact on your performance. Let’s dive into the key advantages of each weight to help you make the best choice for your needs, whether it’s fine, medium, or broad: 

• Best for breathability: Merino fine weight. This lightweight option promotes better air circulation, ideal for activities where you might sweat a bit. Plus, thanks to its natural odor control, you’ll stay fresh throughout. 

• Best all-rounder: Merino medium weight. Perfect for any season, this weight strikes an excellent balance between breathability and insulation. It’s a reliable choice for all your outdoor adventures. 

• Best for maximum insulation: Merino broad weight. When you need the utmost warmth in freezing conditions, turn to our Merino Heavyweight. It’s designed to keep you warm and comfortable in the toughest climates. 

Merino wool has 2 main differences from regular wool: 

• Its fibers are superfine, making them much softer than regular wool. 

• It lacks the coarse, scratchy texture that regular wool has, meaning that Merino wool is not itchy at all. 

It basically combines the best of both wool worlds. 

It’s nature’s magic, providing you with a high-quality, top-notch textile perfect for any adventure.  

Let’s dive into the benefits of Merino wool. 

Merino wool is a popular choice among mountaineers, cyclists, and military personnel.  

This comes as no surprise, given the numerous benefits this exceptional wool offers. 

Hikers often spend days on the move, leading to sweat and the potential for unpleasant odors. Merino wool is an excellent choice for preventing these smells.  

The surface of Merino wool is compact and not smooth, which prevents bacteria from penetrating the fabric—bacteria being the main cause of odor.  

Additionally, Merino fibers contain a protein called keratin that further inhibits the growth of odor-causing bacteria. 

Sweating often leads to an uncomfortable, itchy feeling, but not with Merino wool. This wool is so fine that it doesn’t cause itchiness.  

Typically, fibers larger than 25 microns can be felt and can irritate the skin, but Merino wool fibers are much finer. This means you get to enjoy a soft, cozy feel without any itchiness. 

What comes from the Earth, returns to the Earth. Merino wool fibers are biodegradable, meaning they naturally decompose in the soil over time.  

This process occurs without creating pollution, allowing the wool to reintegrate into nature, enriching the soil and supporting the environment. 

Remember the famous saying, ‘dress like an onion,’ that your grandma used when talking about layering clothes?  

Well, Merino wool acts as a natural barrier, like an ‘onion layer,’ between you and the environment. This is due to its unique structure, which creates an ‘air layer’ that helps regulate temperature.  

Whether you’re facing heat or cold, Merino wool is the perfect solution for maintaining comfort. 

Merino wool contains high levels of nitrogen, a natural fire suppressant. Additionally, it has very low oxygen content, which is essential for combustion. 

Interestingly, Merino wool requires an ignition temperature of 600°C to catch fire. So, you can confidently say that you won’t have much of a fire risk with Merino wool! 

Merino wool is a great sustainable choice for 5 key reasons: 

• Biodegradable: it naturally breaks down and won’t harm the environment. 

• Renewable: it comes from a natural and renewable source. 

• Low maintenance: thanks to its odor-resistant and antibacterial properties, you don’t need to wash it often, which saves water and energy. 

• No microplastics: Merino wool doesn’t release microplastics into the water when washed. 

• Animal welfare: our Merino wool comes from mulesing-free farms, supporting better animal care. 

Learn more about how we at BUFF® create high-quality Merino accessories while staying committed to sustainability. 

At BUFF®, we take our neck gaiters, snoods, and beanies seriously. All our manufacturing processes adhere to high-quality standards and are designed to minimize environmental impact. 

From sourcing the wool to creating the final product, each step is carefully managed to ensure we’re doing the best for our planet. 

We start by selecting farms that provide Merino wool, committing only to suppliers with a mulesing-free declaration of conformity. 

Once the Merino wool arrives at our factory near Barcelona, we use advanced techniques to determine the optimal weights for each type of Merino fabric. 

We rigorously test the thermal resistance of our wool according to the ISO 11092 standard.  

This involves placing a fabric sample on a heated plate to measure how well it retains heat. Based on these tests, we offer Lightweight, Midweight, and Heavyweight options. 

So, when you choose a BUFF® neckwear or headwear made from Merino wool, you’re not just getting a high-quality product—you’re also supporting responsible and sustainable practices. 

Enjoy our wide variety of Merino!