Sustainability + Design

Each element of The Wooly has been thoughtfully designed with sustainability in mind. The housings and hardware are made from corrosion resistant aluminum and stainless steel, materials that can be easily recycled. The cutting board and handles are made from bamboo, a renewable and natural material. The conventional polyurethane foam insulation found in virtually all hard coolers was replaced with natural compostable wool. This patented assembly differentiates The Wooly from every other cooler on the market.

While sustainability is a top priority, durability, functionality, and pride of ownership are equally important to us. We’ve gone through numerous rounds of sketching, prototyping, testing, engineering, and design-for-manufacturing to ensure The Wooly can deliver in every category.

The Wooly is a new take on camping coolers, showcasing unique features that set it apart from the competition:

Wool Insulation

Wool has been used as an insulator for thousands of years. It’s a natural, renewable, and biodegradable material that maintains its thermal performance for decades, even when exposed to water.  The reason wool works so well as an insulator has to do with its fiber structure or crimp as it’s called. The naturally occurring crimp of the wool fiber creates a three-dimensional latticework that traps air in tiny pockets, which work to insulate your Wooly.

Sheep absorb organic carbon from the plants they eat, storing it in their wool (up to 50% of its weight), making wool a “carbon sink”. Sheep’s wool is antifungal and proven to absorb and neutralize harmful and odorous substances. Since wool is 100% natural, it requires less energy to turn into an insulating material than any other product on the market.

During testing, our wool-insulated prototypes performed just as well as polyurethane foam-filled coolers with a similar wall thickness. We tested many different kinds and thicknesses of wool – loose fill, batts, bonded, etc, and discovered that batts from our preferred supplier outperformed the rest. We’re confident that the wool we’ve selected will keep your Wooly frosty for life.

Cutting Board

There’s a cutting board built right into the cooler lid for users to chop and serve any ingredients they might have brought.

Hinges

The Wooly opens with a tackle box style hinge that allows you to open the cooler mid-cut without disturbing anything on the cutting board.

Handles

The handles were inspired by vintage seatbelt buckles and are able to support up to 100lbs. The design integrates the latch directly into the top of the handle and functions with an intuitive turn and lock motion. This unique handle-latch combo in addition to an all-natural rubber gasket, creates an airtight seal to keep your goods nice and frosty.

Finish Options

We’ll initially be offering the Wooly in two finish options, Natural Aluminum, and a limited edition Charcoal, with the intention to introduce more color choices in the future.

Capacity

The Wooly’s capacity is 52 quarts, perfect for a long weekend adventure with the family or a backyard BBQ with your friends. It’ll hold 78 cans of beer and will keep your items cold for at least 3 days thanks to the sheep’s wool lining.

Drain

A drain on the side of the Wooly lets you flush out the melted ice after your long weekend trip. It accepts standard American garden hoses so you can drain it into a distant receptacle if desired.

Sandwich Tray

An optional sandwich tray is available for those who’d like to keep their perishables high and dry.

Orthographic Views

Materials Overview

Disassembly / End-of-Life

The Wooly was designed to be easily disassembled by the owner. Every component on the cooler can be taken apart using just a Phillips screwdriver and crescent wrench. This makes it easy to swap out parts or upgrade to a different color housing. If the Wooly somehow falls off your truck or swan dives off a cliff, no need to panic… replacement parts will be available through the Wool Street website.

Disassembly also makes it possible to recycle and compost the materials when it’s finally time to part ways. Simply unscrew the outer aluminum shell from the inner stainless steel housing and remove the wool insulation; you’ll need to do this on the lid assembly too. The wool can be composted in your home compost bin. To reuse the bamboo cutting board, just unscrew it from the lid. The rest of the unit can be recycled at your local scrap yard, and they may even give you some cash for it.

The Problem & Solution

Technical Specifications