New England[edit]

is not the most exact location description of the company: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England_(disambiguation) Please specify!

Can this material be used?[edit]

Here is an article from REI ( Recreational Equipment Incorporated ) on wool in general: http://www.rei.com/expertadvice/articles/wool+clothing.html. It includes this section toward the end:

Comments from SmartWool
At SmartWool, we've been tickling the soles of troubled toes since 1994. When we're not comforting people from their toes on up, or outside playing, we're thinking up ways to comfort their inner souls.
We want to be a company you feel good about—from the best products to the best business practices. Our decisions are driven by what's right for the world, not by what the "suits" tell us . . . unless, of course, they're wearing head-to-toe SmartWool!
We helped develop and then became the first Merino wool company to adopt the world's first wool accreditation program, Zque, assuring you our wool is produced using best management practices from start to finish.
Ten percent of smartwool.com sales go to the SmartWool Advocacy Fund and then to nonprofit organizations who share our passion in making the world a better place. For SmartWool Pink Ribbon socks sales, 2% is donated to the SmartWool Breast Cancer Fund.
We think globally and act locally. We have received numerous local business awards including Philanthropic Business of the Year, PACE certification and a Gold Level Sustainable Businesses certification.
We donated 1,000 volunteer hours to local non-profit organizations and our offices close twice a year for a little hometown park TLC.
SmartWool has two employee-driven corporate sustainability teams whose goal is to reduce annual energy and water usage by 20% and waste by 50%.
And that's just the beginning. Who knew something that felt so good on your toes could feel so good for your soul? We did!

That's (1) too long for the article, and (2) probably a copyright violation - I assume it's "fair use" to discuss on a talk page, however. Further, it's (3) a marketing blurb from a manufacturer, and (4) it appears on a retail site aiming to sell wool. All in all, it's a clever advertisement, and not really suited in this form for an encyclopedia.

However, with all that said, this article is barely a stub, and desperately needs more content. There's good information in the quote; we can cut out the "feel good" material and use the factual claims in the article, if REI is acceptable as a cited reference...? And, if not, perhaps somebody else knows of a better source for this material? I'm sure the SmartWool company has made similar claims elsewhere, although I don't know where to find them.

--SeattleHiker (talk) 18:27, 16 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Toxicity[edit]

"This treatment is actually used widely within the wool processing industry known as the Hercosett Treatment which is chlorine-based and highly toxic." points to a citation that doesn't mention SmartWool, wool processing, or toxicity. There are a variety of methods of processing wool, some of them create byproducts which harm local waterways (while others clean or avoid those byproducts): https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/10/11/1213/htm https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6369147/

I still don't know which process SmartWool uses after trying to research it. If evidence can be cited that they use one treatment process over others, and evidence can be cited that that process causes environmental harms, we could say "They use X process, which has Y and Z environmental impacts" with appropriate citations. The specific environmental impacts are worth spelling out, because as written it implies that this product is itself toxic (currently without any supporting sources). Not saying nothing about processing impacts should be included at all, just recommending to improve clarity and citations to make that case first.--Thomas B♘talk 00:24, 10 November 2021 (UTC)[reply]