One of my favorite things about wool is how many uses it can to put to. A quick perusal of most books about sheep will result in a long list of things we used to use wool for before the invention of plastics and/or the shift towards enormous flocks of sheep far away from centers of population made lower value uses for excess wool unprofitable. Wool could be a comfy mattress or pillow stuffing (and people are starting to do this again). Wool can be insulation (another use that is coming back). Wool can be cordage and sails (I would love to see this in action).
Apparently wool also makes great sponges. Poking through my instagram feed this morning I came across a post by @ladysheepshearer memorializing her beloved wool sponge, finally worn through after several years of use and now on to the next use, “probably holding water in a plant pot”. The sponge in question was made by @stargrazers of Full Circle Wool in Petaluma, California who sells them in a pack of two on Etsy (July 2020 Update: They have moved off of Etsy and developed their own website; sponges now available at www.fullcirclewool.com, and they also make pillows!). They also wrote a wonderful article about the dance between sheep and shearer during the shearing process for Fibershed.com, Choreography and Skill: How Sheep are Sheared.
Now off to buy myself some wool sponges…
(Apologies for not reposting the original Instagram post I am referencing - such things are beyond my pre-caffeinated brain).
July 2020: post edited to update link to wool sponges