So it's Aldi cycling special buys, from tomorrow. They'll supposedly (sold out online) have merino base layers in store, for £17.99 a piece. I'd been planning on buying some Alpkit merino, to use as my sleeping base layer, which are also in their Spacemaker sale, but at £39.99 a piece. Alpkit state that their merino is ethical, as it's from non-mulesing farms. Obviously I can't find anything on the Aldi website, and given the price, I'm dubious about where it's come from.

A bit of a long shot, but I don't suppose anyone knows how ethical the Aldi (Crane) merino stuff is...?

I bought a pair of their leggings to replace my worn out Icebreakers, that was a few years ago but it did say ethically sourced on the packet, not sure about the current one though, might be worth eyeballing in store.

Shewie wrote: ↑Sat Sep 26, 2020 2:36 pm I bought a pair of their leggings to replace my worn out Icebreakers, that was a few years ago but it did say ethically sourced on the packet, not sure about the current one though, might be worth eyeballing in store.

I was planning on going in tomorrow anyway, I'll have a look and see what they say on the pack; if there are any...

Have you emailed Aldi themselves?

I'd also be cautious of assuming price = ethical. Aldi are good at sourcing stuff in a way that lets them sell at cheap prices on limited occasions.

Mine arrived in the post this morning. Just looked at the packet and there's nothing about ethical standards.

There is something called STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® but on googling this appears to be a quality mark.

Alpkit are B-Corp rated company now and state the source of their merino, so where ethics are important I'd buy theirs - £40 is still fair vfm. Plus, they're a bunch of good people. Aldi kit is probably good to be fair, they're like Decathlon. Having ethics isn't compatible with getting the lowest price, but if we think of the ethics as a feature in the vfm considerations maybe it balances up? 'Having ethics can be expensive' someone said once, dunno who. Been thinking more about that recently.

jameso wrote: ↑Sun Sep 27, 2020 9:03 am Alpkit are B-Corp rated company now and state the source of their merino, so where ethics are important I'd buy theirs - £40 is still fair vfm. Plus, they're a bunch of good people. Aldi kit is probably good to be fair, they're like Decathlon. Having ethics isn't compatible with getting the lowest price, but if we think of the ethics as a feature in the vfm considerations maybe it balances up? 'Having ethics can be expensive' someone said once, dunno who. Been thinking more about that recently.

I was chatting about it with my wife earlier and came to the conclusion that buying the Alpkit stuff would be preferable. I still need to go to Aldi , so will check them out if they are in store. I do wonder if they are comparable anyway, in terms of weight, etc.

Specialist Hoprocker wrote: ↑Sat Sep 26, 2020 7:35 pm Mine arrived in the post this morning. Just looked at the packet and there's nothing about ethical standards.

There is something called STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® but on googling this appears to be a quality mark.

Does it say where it was sourced/manufactured? I have a vague recollection that Australia/New Zealand have banned mulesing. Then your ethical worries move onto the people who stitched it all together....

I would very much doubt that the Aldi business model of sell cheap is going to work with ethical which is always going to be more expensive.

I dont know for sure but i would be amazed if it was ethical and far more likely to to be a job lot from China

Bought some several years ago and had to take them back
I can't beli2how itchy they were.
I've no idea is the new ones are as bad.
Anyone tried them on as yet?

https://www.sportpursuit.com/products?b ... icebreaker

Sportspursuit has icebreaker on offer and the prices seem pretty good (and ethics too!). Also non-itchy merino

I'd buy the AK to be honest. Ethical but sourced from China, brings in the debate of the Chinese authorities and their concentration camps containing the Uighers old and young - not saying Alpkit aren't ethical but something I'm not sure many consider int he ethical debate. I'm sure AK do their best though...

Regards getting the cheapest in Merino, I'm not sure how long it'd last. My first was from PX years and years ago and within a month it looked square (the jersey). Always thought it was maybe me but none of the same has happened with my Crikey, how much (China sourced mainly and hence I'm moving away from that) or Ember Merino gear.

Very very good thought though Bob (it's the thought that counts right! and the ethical debate is a complex one I suppose). Recently what I've done is get rid of the Sierra Design which had some sort of ethically sourced duck down from China. Sold it on and that left me with just synthetic bags so needed to think carefully about my next purchase.

Now I feel I have the best/closest to ethical one can get and I'd say similar, in ethic grading, to Criterion (according to the nice man at Tundra as they're both BlueSign or summat)... if not better.

Tundra... made in Poland from locally sourced down from the nests of the geese who are there into their old age. The outer is from Europe (France) so a low enough carbon footprint. Paying good money for it which in my mind means the UK Tundra guy is paying the workers in Poland properly. He certainly didn't sound like he skimps from other peoples fare share...

Anyway... I'd just go AK and it'll last a long long time too. Oh and one other thing about Tundra... when the outer is finally worn, they're happy to reuse the down to make me another bag (AFAIR)...

Complex innit and heavily influenced by where you set your threshold of tolerance or balance for the various rights/wrongs. For instance where do you balance the welfare of animals (mulesing being a procedure intended to improve stock health / avoid death by ass-infestations) and supporting (inadvertently) a totalitarian super-power

Always useful to base decisions on facts though, or at least the best thing that purports to be a "fact". So did you drop Aldi a line or was the decision based on forum comments and gut-feel?

I only read a little about mulesing. Sounds horrid and looks like a consequence of industrial scale sheep farming. Banned in NZ but legal in Oz.

Anyone know if clothes moths distinguish between ethical and non-ethical merino?

Cheeky Monkey wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 10:01 am Always useful to base decisions on facts though, or at least the best thing that purports to be a "fact". So did you drop Aldi a line or was the decision based on forum comments and gut-feel?

I had a feel in store, they were very thin. The shop was busy, no-one was social distancing, I left as fast as I could, given the queues at the till. I really dislike having to go into Aldi...

FWIW I do all my weekly grocery shopping at Aldi. Well spaced out aisles, good hygiene, never crowded and everyone west's masks and leaves you plenty of space. Obviously a lot of local factors involved.

I never buy merino though.

Beware Icebreaker in my experience. I bought some base layer stuff a few years ago for hill walking and it wore out really quickly. I was very disappointed as it was quite expensive.

K1100T wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 10:45 pm

Cheeky Monkey wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 10:01 am Always useful to base decisions on facts though, or at least the best thing that purports to be a "fact". So did you drop Aldi a line or was the decision based on forum comments and gut-feel?

I had a feel in store, they were very thin. The shop was busy, no-one was social distancing, I left as fast as I could, given the queues at the till. I really dislike having to go into Aldi...

So to paraphrase that's "no" and then a load of stuff about Covid-aversion

S'funny (though I don't shop there that much) but comparing our local Aldi with the Morrisons it is the latter that seems to have a much worse Covid-awareness/compliance.

Hey ho

I've had Howies, Lab Gear, Montane (a poly-mix), Finisterre, On One and various other manufacturers merino products. They've been of variable quality, durability, level of itchiness and propensity to metamorpose in the wash. I wonder if it's more about the quality of raw materials than the manufacturer themselves? I think all the merino-love was a bandwagon thing as personally, for a sweaty git, I think they're rubbish for any vigorous activity as they don't dry out and being sodden means they are more likely to cool me down (unwantedly / in the wrong situation). For sleeping layers they are great (so long as not an itchy batch) but then so too is bamboo stuff.

As for Alpkit, mleh. I take other's word for it that they're "good people" but I've had as much stuff from them that I thought was cheaply made, re-badged and flawed as (whisper it) PX. Well not quite But I'm not a rabid fan of all their stuff, they're just yet another manufacturer and re-branded on-seller, IMO. No offence. No hate

ScotRoutes wrote: ↑Tue Sep 29, 2020 12:07 am Obviously a lot of local factors involved.

Absolutely.

Cheeky Monkey wrote: ↑Tue Sep 29, 2020 9:37 am I've had Howies, Lab Gear, Montane (a poly-mix), Finisterre, On One and various other manufacturers merino products. They've been of variable quality, durability, level of itchiness and propensity to metamorpose in the wash. I wonder if it's more about the quality of raw materials than the manufacturer themselves? I think all the merino-love was a bandwagon thing as personally, for a sweaty git, I think they're rubbish for any vigorous activity as they don't dry out and being sodden means they are more likely to cool me down (unwantedly / in the wrong situation). For sleeping layers they are great (so long as not an itchy batch) but then so too is bamboo stuff.

I did look at Howies, but they didn't seem to do matching longjohns. I'd discounted Finisterre as a posh lifestyle brand, cause they ain't half expensive. As for bamboo, most of the stuff I've seen that claims to be bamboo, is in reality just cotton, with a little bit of bamboo. Granted, the Finisterre stuff is better at 68% Bamboo Viscose, but still, a long way from 100%.

Tried BAM?

My wife bought me a BAM hoodie a while back, I'm actually wearing it at the moment. I can remember being rather disappointed when I found out how little bamboo was in it, especially given the cost. My expectation of what constitutes "bamboo" based clothing obviously doesn't align with reality. They also don't do longjohns.

Any use?

https://bambooclothing.co.uk/shop/mens- ... ngs-black/

BAMBOO JERSEY
200gsm

68% Bamboo Viscose,
28% Organic Cotton, 4% Elastane.

Cheeky Monkey wrote: ↑Tue Sep 29, 2020 11:34 am Any use?

https://bambooclothing.co.uk/shop/mens- ... ngs-black/

It would appear I'm blind...

K1100T wrote: ↑Tue Sep 29, 2020 11:08 am My wife bought me a BAM hoodie a while back, I'm actually wearing it at the moment. I can remember being rather disappointed when I found out how little bamboo was in it, especially given the cost. My expectation of what constitutes "bamboo" based clothing obviously doesn't align with reality. They also don't do longjohns.

See also Merino blends. I bought an Endura BaaBaa* base layer recently and it would have been very easy while shopping around to accidentally order the "blend" version, which is a similar price, but only 20% wool.

*Ethical was actually my first criteria, and I was sure at the time I was ordering specifically non-mulesed wool, but looking back, I can't see any evidence of that, so in the long, indecisive shopping process I may have actually bought something that isn't Though the merino in the blend apparently is

My girlfriend bought me some THIS IS SO ECO LOOK AT HOW GREEN THIS PRODUCT IS "bamboo" socks a while back, and I didn't have the heart to point out to her that they were, I think, 50% bamboo at most, and that bamboo is usually quite ecologically damaging due to the amount and type of solvents you need to turn trees (which are made of WOOD) into clothes (which are best when they're softer than wood ), usually in third world countries. We aim for organic cotton for most stuff now.

In my experience some of the merino blends actually work better as a base layer than the pure version. The synthetic/merino blends combine the improved wicking of synthetic base layers but with the stink resistance of merino. They're certainly a lot harder wearing than pure merino. After my (bad) Icebreaker experience I'd actually seek out a blend in preference.