Woolcool recycle

[moonriver]

Hello everyone ,
I hope there isn't already a similar topic (I did a search but couldn't find anything)

To keep the story short, I started ordering some organic food and they deliver fresh food in woolcool bags. Apparently wool works well for insulating.
In the packaging they invite customers to re-use it and share some recycle ideas...

I live in a "normal" house at the moment, but as my dream is to live in a yurt, I was wondering if I could use woolcool for anything there?! (I can stockpile until then!)

Does anyone here have some experience on woolcool and how to recycle it?

I was reading in a webpage:

"Wool is so malleable and flexible that it can be shaped and cut to be used in all kinds of unusual ways. Woolcool tech-heads use our wool to line their backpacks and bags to protect their laptops and tablets.
Our liners can be rolled up to create draft excluders to block out cold breezes from your home.
It can also be used to wrap around pipes to provide

insulation

against freezing temperatures.
The liners can even be cut to create cosy insoles for your wellies or boots."

What do you think? Any idea?

Thanks and all the best

Maria

[Bob Rowlands]

While wool is one of natures best insulators, I'm gonna guess very few people that post here buy organic food wrapped in a wool bag, and have it delivered to their door. That strikes me as being quite pricey.

Maybe someone will chime in? Your best bet might be online research. Email the manufacturer? Recycling sites? Wish I had something useful to contribute, but that's all I got. Good luck.

[moonriver]

Hi Bob, the reason I've posted it here is because someone might have used wool as a building material before and give some infos...

I was not expecting many people buying organic food delivered to the door, of course That was not in my mind, and I don't focus much on how people spend their money...
Yes organic food is a little expensive, but when you have not a car, your leg is in pain and taking ibuprofen 3times a day for a week and cannot hold bags from the nearest shop... you opt for deliveries...and you eventually appreciate their ecology choices in packaging... and get/give some ideas...

[moonriver]

thank you anyway...the idea of contacting the manufacturer is good, but it would be great to know how to apply this to a yurt...on walls? pipes?

Hope to talk to a yurt builder at some point...

[Bob Rowlands]

I'm gonna guess you could figure a procedure to use those coolwool jackets to insulate pipes, in an accessible open space, perhaps under a deck. I did wrap vinyl backed fiberglass around pipes under house trailers decades ago when I lived in WY. But what a nightmare dealing with the tight quarters and unbelievable filth under old trailers. Fiddly farting around trying to make some oddball

insulation

work in that scenario would be of no interest to me however.

Tubular foam pipe wrap, with a slit in the side for installation, has to be very inexpensive relative to any form of wool packaging used as a shipping container. Foam pipe wrap is easy to install on pipes in tight quarters. Pry the slit open and install it over the pipe. There's no actual wrapping involved. You can slide it down pipes that are impossible to reach. That's certainly an advantage in some plumbing runs.

I used foam pipe wrap on all the hot supplies when I built my house. Normally it gets taped along the slit, but there are numerous runs inside a drop ceiling or enclosed chase where it can't be taped. It would be impossible to actually wrap the pipe with strips of wool packaging in those circumstances.

As for insulating walls with the product I have no suggestions. There ARE a few threads on this site about wool as yurt insulation. For sure Mongolians layer blankets of wool felt over the framework of their yurts prior to installing the cover. But that is large blankets, not small packages that have been cut to 'lay flat'. I'm absolutely certain that wool blankets are a fantastic yurt insulation. Tough, resilient, portable, breathable, hold heat when damp. In short, perfect for the purpose.

How small package size panels would work for insulation would take trial and error to figure out a system. Once you get enough of them, you might be able to tape them together into a blanket? Just a guess. At any rate that is all I got here. Good luck.

[Bob Rowlands]

You might be able to cut those coolwool containers so they lay flat, and tape them together into a useful sized blanket. There is a duct tape that sheet metal guys use on their installs. The product is a thin foil with an adhesive backing that, once applied, is not be removable. I have used the tape many times, it will NOT 'let go'. If it is applied to paper jacket backing the paper might seperate but the tape will not fail. Duct tape WILL let go in many flexible installs. You can get that tape at Depot, it is inexpensive. Just tell the clerk "foil duct tape" and they will know what you want.

As for pipe runs, you might be able to make longer strips of insulation using coolwrap and that duct tape. But remember you would have to wrap that around the pipe, umnless you figure a way to make a 'sleeve out of the stuff and get it in place before the joints are made.

Plenty of pipe runs can't be wrapped due to where they are located. I suggest foam pipe wrap with the slit. Cheap, easy to install, will slide down pipes into tight quarters otherwise unreachable. Plus insulate great. I used it on all the hot supplies when I built our house. Tape the slits if you can for best insulative value. Good luck.

[Bob Rowlands]

HA! Thought I lost first post while editing numerous typos. Oh well. Double the pleasure, double the fun.

[moonriver]

Originally Posted by Bob Rowlands

You might be able to cut those coolwool containers so they lay flat, and tape them together into a useful sized blanket. There is a duct tape that sheet metal guys use on their installs. The product is a thin foil with an adhesive backing that, once applied, is not be removable. I have used the tape many times, it will NOT 'let go'. If it is applied to paper jacket backing the paper might seperate but the tape will not fail. Duct tape WILL let go in many flexible installs. You can get that tape at Depot, it is inexpensive. Just tell the clerk "foil duct tape" and they will know what you want.

As for pipe runs, you might be able to make longer strips of insulation using coolwrap and that duct tape. But remember you would have to wrap that around the pipe, umnless you figure a way to make a 'sleeve out of the stuff and get it in place before the joints are made.

Plenty of pipe runs can't be wrapped due to where they are located. I suggest foam pipe wrap with the slit. Cheap, easy to install, will slide down pipes into tight quarters otherwise unreachable. Plus insulate great. I used it on all the hot supplies when I built our house. Tape the slits if you can for best insulative value. Good luck.

Hey Bob, thank you very much, I actually liked both your messages! Your opinion is important to me as I haven't experience in building more than a LEGO house...
So if I got it right (English is not my first language)...

For the pipes, the best solution would be using foam pipe wrap with the slit (and add some tape if necessary).

Also the best solution would be using the woolcool taped with "foil duct tape" to get a sort of blanket to cover the external walls.
I think the difference with the Mongolian insulation wool is the weight...this woolcool is not tightly sewn, so maybe it is not heavy as a blanket...
I can eventually learn how to make felt here ah ah no way, only joking of course

The good news is that my housemate is a regular customer of this company, so she is saving lots of woolcool for me yeeeeeeee

[Bob Rowlands]

Try it. If it works, good. If it doesn't, try something else. That's how I roll.

[Bob Rowlands]

I just dawned on me that coolwool and rock wool might be kinda similar, in the sense that they are essentially loose material bound with glue. Nowadays the product will have a biologically inert binder, like recycled Asian rim clothing and plastic bags, where 50s vintage rock wool might have been soaked in a pot of asbestos and nuclear waste, for flame resistance and long life. Product life doesn't matter any more. lol