Wool-flax composite

Wool–flax composite is a modern nonwoven material created by combining animal (sheep wool) and plant (flax) fibres in an unspun, non-interwoven state, often forming a multilayer nonwoven structure. Its development is linked to the contemporary effort to replace synthetic composites with ecological alternatives and to make use of fibre waste; it has experienced its greatest growth since the early 21st century in the context of “bio-composites” for technical and insulating applications. Production uses nonwoven textile technologies: dry processes (air-laid, carding–needle-punching) or wet processes (wet-laid), in which layers of wool and flax fibres are arranged into a sandwich structure and subsequently fixed mechanically (needling, calendering), or with the use of biodegradable adhesives or a thermoplastic matrix. The result is a material combining excellent thermal and acoustic insulation (due to wool) with high tensile strength (due to flax), while also being biodegradable, recyclable, and safe for human health. In the textile and construction industries, it is used for insulating panels, ecological filling materials, technical nonwoven textiles, and structural underlays; it is also applied in the automotive and furniture industries as a bio-composite alternative to glass fibre or polypropylene materials. Its key advantage is the possibility of fully natural composition and integration into a circular economy.