Development

Same great product with a new name: Woolpower® (formerly Ulfrotte® Original)

Research and Development

Woolpower® is a complete system of thermal clothing, accessory garments, socks, gloves, hoods and linings. Intensive product development with a focus on function and comfort has fueled Woolpower®’s progress in the global market. We collaborate with a number of organizations, research institutes, testing laboratories, universities and raw material suppliers in many different countries.  

Unique manufacturing method

Woolpower® is manufactured on advanced, custom-designed tubular knitting machines that give sleeves, legs and body sections, as well as cuffs and waistbands, a seamless construction. For the best possible fit, the various garment sections and sizes are woven individually on knitting machines with varying diameters. The yarn is woven in a loop system to produce a soft and airy terry cloth, a technique that offers high comfort, durability and a minimum of seams.

Dressing/blocking

In order to stabilize the material, the cloth is washed in water. The finished garment may shrink by a maximum of 5%. Using heat and steam, the material is then blocked and crabbed on metal frames and tenters.

Stamping/cutting

Every size and model has a specific length and width. The garment sections are bundled and stamped with metal knives and a warping machine is used to split the tubular knitted pant legs at the crotch.

Flat inseams

After stamping and cutting, the various garment sections are sewn together with flat inseams, a technique that creates inseams without edges that chafe.

Quality assurance

Continuous, random testing is carried out at every stage of the manufacturing process to ensure that raw materials, semi-finished and finished products maintain high and consistent quality. Changes in appearance, durability, absorption capacity, insulation and shrinkage are routinely analyzed in the laboratory. The company complies with the regulations for quality assurance according to ISO 9000. The various garment sizes and sections are woven indivdually on different knitting machines with needle beds of varying diameters, giving the garments excellent fit and comfort.

Testing and Field Use

Woolpower® garments are tested regularly by SINTEF, both in a laboratory environment and on test groups ranging from forestry workers, fishermen, road workers and drivers to the military and oil platform workers. Over the years, several thousand field trials have been conducted on a variety of test persons in Germany, Norway, Sweden, Canada, the U.S., etc.

Woolpower® is also tested in an arctic climate at SINTEF’s field station on Svalbard. The tests are aimed at improving protective clothing for demanding work environments. The results of SINTEF’s tests serve as a basis for product development.Knowledge on location.

Some of the development work is carried out by collecting data on location. Expeditions have been made to places such as Australia and New Zealand, where wool production was studied. Furthermore, every year our agents and staff undergo training in an arctic environment in cooperation with SINTEF.

The Norwegian Navy During the winter of 1997 the Norwegian Navy tested Woolpower® in order to compare it with the Norwegian military’s standard cotton underwear.

245 soldiers were equipped with a sweater and pants in Woolpower® 200 g/m2 (0.7 oz/sq. ft), a jacket in 400 g/m2 (1.3 oz/sq. ft) and socks in 600 g/m2 (2 oz/sq. ft). An additional 138 soldiers outfitted with the military’s standard undergarments formed a reference group.

The test period was 6 weeks long. One of the questions asked at the end of the test period was ”How would you rate the odor (perspiration) of the undergarments used during the test period compared with those you normally use?” The results showed that odor is an area where Woolpower® demonstrates very favorable characteristics in comparison with standard undergarments.