Woolmark was founded in 1964 as a collaboration between Australian authorities and Australian wool producers / spinners. The need arose primarily because much recycled, old wool was used in products that would appear with pure new wool. The Woolmark logo is one of the world's most famous logo, and refers to quality wool used on clothing and interiors. There are three different Woolmark logos that can be worth knowing:
Woolmark: Contains 100% pure new wool.
Woolmark blend: Contains a minimum of 50% pure new wool, but may have 50% other fibers.
Wool blend: Contains a minimum of 30-49% pure new wool, but may have up to 70% other fibers.
When a product has one of the above mentioned logos, it does not only ensure the quality and content of the wool. As time has passed, Woolmark has gained an increasingly important role in technical quality assurance and today ensures that properties such as color fastness, fiber content, washing instructions, pilling and wear resistance are within strict tolerance limits. Woolmark no longer only includes wool of Australian origin, but deals with all wool regardless of land and which animal the wool originates from.