So, just exactly how are the duvets made?
When the alpacas are shorn at Benbellen farm, the fleeces are given a primary clean by removing burrs, stones and other obvious foreign matter. [The best quality and finest fibre which is anything from 15 to 20 microns is then hand spun and hand knitted into fine quality fashion garments: sweaters, shawls, scarves, snoods and berets in natural colours.] The [slightly] coarser quality fleece, usually from older animals, is sent to our manufacturer for processing into duvets. Here the raw fleece is carded and then sent to the CSIRO laboratories where it is scoured and made into batts, looking rather like the insulating batts used in the building industry. All batts contain a blending oil to eliminate static and to keep fibres moist and pliable. The batts are then sewn into a duvet covering made of high quality japara cotton or sateen in an off-white colour; the japara cotton and the sateen are chosen because of the denseness of their weave and the lustre of their finish. The coverings ar
