[TonyG]

I've searched through the forums but couldn't find anything on this. Has anyone used their own or bought in wool to insulate a building?

As far as I can make out it's a naturally fire resistant material and as long as all insects and the likes were dealt with it should make for a cheap and effective insulation material.

Or am I missing something?

[doganjo]

I've seen it used on TV house build programmes, but I think [member=13]Rosemary[/member] said it needed quite a bit of processing

[Fleecewife]

The problem is vermin, rats and mice which will infest the fleece, clothes moth too.  Then they don't stay in the fleece but move out into your house.  I did investigate using our sheepsfleece for insulating our house but I felt it would be massively difficult and doomed to failure for us now. The alternative, of buying in someone else's fleece manufactured into insulation, turns out to be one of the most expensive ways of doing it.
This is such a shame because otherwise wool straight from the sheep is a wonderful, renewable, delightful product which many producers are just burning.  I rage against myself because I'm about to burn some fleeces left over from last year, and I hate doing so.
What it needs [member=40370]TonyG[/member] is for someone who is an entrepreneur and a sheep farmer to take on the production of home insulation from sheeps fleece on such a scale that we no longer have the wool crop being burned and the end product is affordable and useable, for everyone. Something along the lines of how Iceland uses its geothermal energy to heat everyone's home, provide outdoor heated pools etc.
There's a challenge 

[doganjo]

The TV programmes I saw said that it was vermin proof. How would they do that?

[Steph Hen]

Try this
https://www.sheepwoolinsulation.com/

Fleece wife, I use old fleece to mulch plants, trees, under hydrangeas, anything. It makes great soil eventually and suppresses water loss and weeds till then. Could you do this? Or in the compost, though slow to break down.
 Allotment folk would take it off your hands.

[TonyG]

I've checked out the sheepwoolinsulation website and while it's impressive,  on my calculations it costs nearly 3 times as much as the standard stuff.

How can this be for what is in effect a byproduct?

I'm sure that this price difference would put most people off buying it.

[Penninehillbilly]

One of my FB  groups were talking about this, they either sprayed or sprinkled with borax to deter insects, I seem to remember they said vermin wasn't a problem.
I can't remember which site, will look again later.

[Fleecewife]

One of my FB  groups were talking about this, they either sprayed or sprinkled with borax to deter insects, I seem to remember they said vermin wasn't a problem.
I can't remember which site, will look again later.

Ha!  They haven't visited my attic!

[Fleecewife]

Try this
https://www.sheepwoolinsulation.com/

Fleece wife, I use old fleece to mulch plants, trees, under hydrangeas, anything. It makes great soil eventually and suppresses water loss and weeds till then. Could you do this? Or in the compost, though slow to break down.
 Allotment folk would take it off your hands.

We use rotavators (various), mowers (various), and strimmers on occasion.  Well, I don't anymore but he who now does the physical work does and what he finds is that wool will get caught in any passing bit of machinery and cause havock, winding inextricably around moving parts.   I have at times tried every conceivable use for fleece around the place but he's now the boss and calls the shots.

[Penninehillbilly]

Try this
https://www.sheepwoolinsulation.com/

Fleece wife, I use old fleece to mulch plants, trees, under hydrangeas, anything. It makes great soil eventually and suppresses water loss and weeds till then. Could you do this? Or in the compost, though slow to break down.
 Allotment folk would take it off your hands.

We use rotavators (various), mowers (various), and strimmers on occasion.  Well, I don't anymore but he who now does the physical work does and what he finds is that wool will get caught in any passing bit of machinery and cause havock, winding inextricably around moving parts.   I have at times tried every conceivable use for fleece around the place but he's now the boss and calls the shots.

And I'm trying it for the first time in veg garden, and round some clematis, have to say, the clematis is now romping up the supports, I think slugs were nibbling new growth.
I'm trying leaky hose through onions, peas and beans, and putting fleece on top instead of burying the pipe. Experiment. But already use it for spuds, using goat bedding for mulch.
But I won't use a rotavator in the veg garden, still struggling with docks since dear husband insisted he would help by rotavating beds some years ago, then I was ill and couldn't do much for a couple of years, docks and nettles are taller than me  .

[doganjo]

docks and nettles are taller than me

Oh boy do I have sympathy - nettles, docks, and sticky willy have taken over my lovely raised beds in the back garden - mainly because him next door has lovely, immaculate, grass-and-nothing-else, mowed-with-a-ride-on-mower, and doesn't strim next to the fence. 
They're away at the moment, might sneak out tonight with weedkiller along the fence line 

[Fleecewife]

Try this
https://www.sheepwoolinsulation.com/

Fleece wife, I use old fleece to mulch plants, trees, under hydrangeas, anything. It makes great soil eventually and suppresses water loss and weeds till then. Could you do this? Or in the compost, though slow to break down.
 Allotment folk would take it off your hands.

We use rotavators (various), mowers (various), and strimmers on occasion.  Well, I don't anymore but he who now does the physical work does and what he finds is that wool will get caught in any passing bit of machinery and cause havock, winding inextricably around moving parts.   I have at times tried every conceivable use for fleece around the place but he's now the boss and calls the shots.

And I'm trying it for the first time in veg garden, and round some clematis, have to say, the clematis is now romping up the supports, I think slugs were nibbling new growth.
I'm trying leaky hose through onions, peas and beans, and putting fleece on top instead of burying the pipe. Experiment. But already use it for spuds, using goat bedding for mulch.
But I won't use a rotavator in the veg garden, still struggling with docks since dear husband insisted he would help by rotavating beds some years ago, then I was ill and couldn't do much for a couple of years, docks and nettles are taller than me  .

The subject of the use of rotavators is up for endless debate.  There are ways to prevent the general mincing of cooch, thistle, nettle etc roots leading to an increase in weeds. This involves doing the rotavating, then leaving a false seed bed for a couple of weeks.  Then any growing weed bits are raked off energetically.  The whole process is repeated a couple more times.  It's energy intense but does actually work, eventually.  So do no dig methods.
We're in the conversion phase where I'm establishing my no dig beds and I'm really enjoying it.  I know The Man will at some point do an about turn and try to rotavate the lot again but I think I'm prepared   

Your words did make me realise that we have never used a rotavator in the flower garden (apart from the original set up when we used the tractor rotie) so perhaps I shall start experimenting with fleece among the flowers, if Brodie the JRT will allow, and I keep well away from any grass which needs a mower.