Yes, the wool all comes from our farm, Kaiora Downs,  in North Canterbury, the scouring (washing) process gets done in Timaru, it comes back to Christchurch for felting and finally back to the farm where we do the final bits and get all the products ready for sale.

Cleaning is simple because there are so many natural properties of wool that are doing the cleaning for you. Wool is anti-bacterial & anti-microbial, odour neutralising and moisture-wicking. This means that as long as the mats are left out with some fresh air or sunshine, they will naturally clean themselves. If you get any marks on your mat; you can clean them with warm water and a natural soap. In terms of maintenance of the mat, they do require some plucking every now and again, to get the loose fibres off of the surface.

Kaiora Downs Mats are generally 1cm thick, although this is slightly batch dependent

This is a little bit dependent on how often and how vigorously you use the mat but they are densely felted, each mat with 1.3kg of wool or more, and they’re about 1cm thick, so the yoga mat is designed to last you a good while

Yes & No. If you are used to practicing on a rubber mat, designed to be non-slip, then the mat will have a different feel than a wool one. The benefit of our mats is that due to the thickness of the mat you can plant your hands into it, and your stability comes through pressing your hands and feet firmly, which in turn creates more strength in your practice. The natural texture in the wool will hold you to a certain extent, especially if you spend a little bit of time removing the loose fibres from the top of the mat

Wool is a natural fibre, which makes it a lot better for yourself and the planet. It creates a more connected space to practice and come back to yourself. Wool is a temperature regulating fibre, which means when its very hot or cold, the wool will be there to hold you.