The thick wool sweater
Released in September 2017
Released in September 2020
Transition to machine-washable wool through an electrical treatment
Released in October 2021
New wool: To prevent shrinkage during washing, the old wool underwent an electrical treatment known as “plasma,” but this made it brittle and could cause the seams to tear. We have switched to a wool with a more traditional treatment called “total easy care” from Tollegno 1900.
Coming out in October 2024
Assembling the different panels of the sweater with a sewing machine instead of using a knitting machine (where the stitches are knitted one by one with a strand of wool). Admittedly, it’s less artisanal, but experience has shown us that it’s much more durable: with a sewn assembly, there’s less risk that the seams will tear.
Part of the production has been relocated to France: the beige color is manufactured in Roanne (the other colors are manufactured in Portugal)
Wool keeps you warm because its fibers trap nearly 80% air. For this garment, we use fine merino wool: with a diameter of just 19.5 microns, it makes for a sweater that’s soft as well as warm.
Our yarn comes from Tollegno 1900, a renowned Italian yarn manufacturer. We also use this yarn for our turtleneck sweater.
A thick sweater designed to keep you warm: it weighs about 600g in size M.
It's thicker than our turtleneck sweater and less warm than our ribbed sweater.
The wool is treated so it can be machine-washed without felting. We still recommend using the wool cycle or simply airing it out from time to time (wool doesn't need to be washed).
This sweater is made in Portugal, except for the beige version, which is knitted in France.
Worn, tested, and approved by thousands of customers, this sweater is the result of several years of continuous improvement. We’ve refined it over time to achieve a balance of quality, ethics, and price that we now consider optimal. For example, we could use virgin wool (i.e., wool that hasn’t been treated for machine washing), but that would compromise its durability: in the past, we’ve received many returns of sweaters that had become felted after being accidentally machine-washed.
Techniques That Ensure Quality
Sewing Assembly
Generally, "fully fashioned" sweaters knitted in tapering panels (like ours) are assembled using the re-knitting technique, in which the stitches are re-knitted together one by one. We prefer to assemble them with seams: in our experience, this prevents the seams from tearing at the shoulders or underarms.
Sewing Assembly
Total Easy Care Treatment
Knit as tightly as possible
Pre-wash
Total Easy Care Treatment
When exposed to water, friction, and heat, untreated wool shrinks and becomes denser (a process known as “felting”). At the microscopic level, this happens because the scales on the fibers interlock. To prevent this, a Total Easy Care treatment—also known as Superwash or KROY-ERCOSETT—is applied. The process involves oxidizing the scales on the fibers and then applying a very fine resin that forms a continuous film, which prevents the fibers from interlocking and thus prevents the wool from felting.
This process, if carried out in countries with low environmental standards, can be polluting. That is why we source our materials from a factory based in Italy that is known for its high environmental standards (Oekotex 100 and 4S CHEM certifications; more information here).
If you prefer sweaters made of virgin wool (i.e., untreated) and don't mind hand-washing them, check out our lightweight sweater, our polo-neck sweater, and our ribbed sweater
Sewing Assembly
Total Easy Care Treatment
Knit as tightly as possible
Pre-wash
Knit as tightly as possible
The stitches are knit as tightly as possible. This uses more yarn and is therefore more expensive, but it helps prevent pilling and gives the sweater more structure.
Sewing Assembly
Total Easy Care Treatment
Knit as tightly as possible
Pre-wash
Pre-wash
This sweater is pre-washed at the factory (before it is sewn together, while it is still in the form of panels).
Sewing Assembly
Total Easy Care Treatment
Knit as tightly as possible
Pre-wash
The Zero-Risk Sweater
No style risks with its classic cut. No risk of getting cold thanks to its thick, 100% wool fabric. No risk of it being itchy thanks to the extra-fine fibers of merino wool. And no risk of “OH NO, IT SHRANK THREE SIZES IN THE WASHER”: our wool is treated to prevent felting during washing.
In detail
Classic Cut
The cut follows the body's contours without being form-fitting. And since wool is naturally stretchy, this sweater fits all body types.
Jersey stitch
A smooth stitch that minimizes snags and pilling.
"Decrease" Knitting
Also known as "fully fashioned": the panels (back, front, sleeves, and collar) are knitted directly into the correct shape to avoid wasting yarn.
Offset shoulder line
The shoulder seam is set back slightly: this makes it less noticeable and helps the sweater drape more neatly.
How to Wear It
A few ideas if you're stuck
Composition
100% wool
Origin and Certifications
- Manufacturing and knitting: The beige sweater is made in Roanne, France; the other colors are made in Portugal
- Spinning and dyeing: Poland, Italy, or Bulgaria, depending on the product
- Wool: Australia or South America, depending on the production
... not to manufacture all the colors in France? To support“Made in France,” we manufacture one color of our sweater in France (beige). It costs us more than manufacturing it in Portugal, so we’re cutting into our profit margin to offer it at the same price as the other colors. If we wanted to make all the colors in France, we’d have to raise the retail price of this sweater by €10.
... not made from French sheep's wool? Because, unfortunately, it's not as fine as wool from the Southern Hemisphere, and because the French wool industry has almost completely disappeared. We explain all of this in more detail on this page.
How This Product Will Age
How do we know this? We ask our customers for their feedback on the product one year after purchase. And if the product is less than a year old, we provide our predictions based on some unsolicited feedback and our experience with similar products.
Thanks to wool’s elasticity, this sweater will lose very little of its shape. If the sleeves stretch out a bit, you can tighten them up with a quick pass of the iron, as explained here. This sweater is also resistant to elbow wear thanks to the thickness of the fabric—so far, only a handful of people have reported a hole.
It may occasionally pill slightly in areas subject to friction, such as the sides... but nothing that a lint shaver can’t handle (and the more pills you remove, the less likely they are to reappear).
The biggest risk with this wool sweater is moths if they take up residence in your closet! So here’s a short article to read to keep them from showing up in your home.
Care Instructions
No need to wash this sweater: airing it out for 24 hours will get rid of all odors. But if you really want to, you can machine-wash it (on the wool cycle).
Do not tumble dry, as this may cause the sweater to shrink. Don’t dry it on a hanger either: your damp sweater is heavy and could lose its shape under the weight of the water. The best way to ensure its longevity (and to help the planet) is to dry it flat on a clothesline or a towel.
On the other hand, you’re absolutely free to iron it—in fact, you should! It can even help it regain its shape. In fact, our factory sometimes goes a little overboard with the ironing, which has created a crease at the shoulder. To remove it, all you have to do is… iron over the crease. Here’s the result in this photo.
Also, if the cuffs of your sweater have stretched out, we explainherehow to tighten them up using your iron.
Environmental Cost
This environmental cost is calculated using the official methodology of the French environmental labeling system (to be rolled out starting October 1, 2025).
The label above shows the product’s environmental cost according to the official French environmental labeling methodology. This represents what its production “costs” nature when considering its impact on climate change, ocean acidification, its toxicity to freshwater, and so on. Currently in use in the textile sector, this label should soon appear on many everyday consumer products (food, cosmetics, furniture, etc.) to help you make more eco-friendly purchasing decisions.
The thick sweater therefore has an environmental cost of 2,765 impact points*.
By comparison, a garment of equivalent weight—made of 100% acrylic, manufactured in Bangladesh, and sold by a fast-fashion brand—has an environmental cost of 3,233 points*.
Why is there this difference? Here are the main reasons:
- Countries of origin: Manufacturing in Portugal or France requires less fossil fuel energy than in Bangladesh (one of the leading producers of low-cost clothing). As a result, this more local manufacturing reduces the impacts on climate change, ocean acidification, and resource depletion.
- The material: Wool has a fairly significant environmental impact, particularly because sheep release methane—a powerful greenhouse gas—during digestion. For this reason, the difference between the environmental impact of our product and that of fast fashion is not very significant. However, unlike acrylic, wool has major advantages: it is warm (thanks to its insulating properties), retains its shape (the fiber is very elastic), breathable (it wicks away sweat), and odor-resistant (it prevents the growth of bacteria).
- Sustainability: Fast-fashion retailers encourage purchasing—in particular by rapidly refreshing their collections and offering a vast number of styles—and they discourage repairs by charging rock-bottom prices. This, in turn, increases the number of garments sold per person and reduces the number of times a garment is worn. In contrast, at Loom, we’ve chosen to adopt business practices that encourage our customers to keep their clothes for as long as possible.
Even though we've done everything we can to minimize it, this product's environmental impact is not insignificant. So before you buy, make sure to get the most use out of your clothes.
*Calculations performed by Loom on August 24, 2026. Click on the links to access the simulations from the official Ecobalyse tool and get more details on the assumptions used. Please note: The number of points is not always exactly the same on Ecobalyse (whose methodology changes regularly) as on the official environmental label (based on Ecobalyse version 7.0).
Reviews of this product
The standard practice is to send review request emails a few days after the purchase. We wait a month—the minimum amount of time needed to form an informed opinion.
Customer Review Policy
When do you ask customers for reviews?
We’ll send you a review request one month after we receive your order. We believe this is the minimum amount of time needed to have worn and washed an item several times and to form a truly informed opinion. After that, all your reviews are published within a week, whether they’re positive or negative.
Do you request reviews for 100% of the products ordered by customers?
We used to do that at first, but then we realized we were starting to send way too many emails to certain customers who shop with us regularly. In short, we were spamming them a bit. Plus, it was starting to take the team way too much time to respond to reviews—since we want to reply individually and privately to almost everyone who leaves us a review. Today, we no longer ask for reviews on products that meet the following two criteria: 1/ There are enough reviews posted on the site for potential buyers to form an informed opinion about the product. 2/ We on the Loom team have read enough reviews to understand how to evolve the product into the next generation.
Just a quick thought: What proof is there that we aren't manipulating reviews by giving 5-star ratings to everything?
Honestly: nothing—we’re just giving you our word. Just like with everything else, actually: where we manufacture our products, where our wool comes from, our lab test results, and so on. The only times we might edit what you write is if your message contains spelling mistakes (and even then, quite a few slip past us) or if it’s racist, homophobic, etc. (but that’s never happened so far).
Asking for feedback after just one month isn't enough to know if the clothes are really durable, is it?
You're right—that's why we send you another email asking for a review one year after your purchase—we even ask for a photo to see how your garment has aged. We use the responses to improve our clothing and to provide information on “how this product will age” on our product pages. To avoid unnecessarily bothering our customers, we don’t ask for reviews on 100% of the products ordered: as soon as we have enough data to understand where we can improve, we stop asking for reviews after one year.