Silvia’s Story

The seed for Wool Roots was planted in 2016 after two life changing events. First, after a long quest to uncover the root cause our son’s asthmatic cough he was diagnosed with a dust mite allergy. And while we were grateful to finally have an answer, and to know that his condition was treatable, we were also reluctant to treat the symptoms of his allergy rather than address their cause.  However, the task of trying to combat dust mites seemed daunting: How do you free your home of an omnipresent invisible intruder? It took a lot of research, but we were fortunate to stumble upon the magic of wool and fell in love with this wonderful material. 

Wool is naturally dust mite resistant, renewable and compostable, breathable, and body temperature regulating, as well as naturally fire resistant, eliminating the need for fire and flame retardants. It was not merely a solution that would alleviate our son’s allergy; we had happened upon a material that we felt better about than those it would replace. Just how we would bring wool into our home turned out to be a challenge, however: sustainably grown, organic wool filled mattresses and furniture with the all-natural and breathable covers we envisioned were a challenge to find.

At some point it clicked. I went back in time to when I was elementary school age, spending my summers at my great grandmother’s house in the Rhodope Mountains of Bulgaria. I slept on a wool filled mattress and pillow covered with a thick wool blanket, and I remember feeling peaceful and grounded, connected to nature and self. Sleep there was exceptional. I fell asleep quickly, woke up early and was always well rested. I am not sure whether it was the wool mattress, the mountains or my great grandmother, but my time spent there was truly special. Coming back home at the beginning of the school year, I felt energized and ready to learn and play.

I went back in time to when I was elementary school age, spending my summers at my great grandmother’s house in the Rhodope Mountains of Bulgaria. I slept on a wool filled mattress and pillow covered with a thick wool blanket, and I remember feeling peaceful and grounded, connected to nature and self.

I picked up the phone and called my aunt in Bulgaria to ask about wool working.  It turned out that there is an ancient wool working tradition in Bulgaria that I began to explore and fell in love with. 

At that point I really wanted to replace every mattress, comforter, pillow and couch in our house immediately, but we were not able to afford it. We were expecting our third child, and we decided that for the being, we would get a wool filled mattress and a wool filled pillow for our son and a wool filled co-sleeper and nursing pillow for the baby. Then, as often happens in life, just when everything seemed to line up perfectly, our lives crashed. On June 30, 2016, after 39.5 weeks of perfect pregnancy, our baby girl, Raya, was born sleeping. Coincidently, or not, that was also the day her wonderful co-sleeper and nursing pillow arrived from Bulgaria but were set aside to wait for a while.               

Thankfully, a long and difficult year later, our rainbow child was born; a girl we named Dara. I quit my corporate job in architecture, and savored every moment with Dara and our boys. Finally, Raya’s perfect co-sleeper and nursing pillow were being put to great use. Seeing the items around the house brings me unexplainable joy as well as deep sadness, but also serves as a constant reminder of my vow to listen to my heart and share the wool magic with the world. And that is how Wool Roots was born.