Animal welfare and nature conservation are very important to us

We want our high-quality products to provide long-lasting enjoyment and pay attention to environmental protection, animal welfare, and employees throughout the entire value chain.

It is important to us to develop outdoor products that are as environmentally friendly as possible in their production, use and at the end of their life, while combining ecological and technical performance.

We actually operate according to one principle: We want to offer honest, accurate, and durable products, and for that, we demand a fair price. A price that's worth the product, not exorbitant prices that are then made normal with a red ink pen.

We're not looking for the cheapest materials, nor are we looking for the lowest-cost production. For us, quality, fair conditions, and environmental considerations are paramount.

Whether it's a sleeping bag or a jacket, our products consist of many individual parts and materials. We have to source them from different countries and bring them together in one place. We make each of these decisions consciously, weighing many arguments against each other.

• For example, we use YKK zippers for our sleeping bags. They are experts in zippers and the best in the world (from Japan).
• The wool for our DownWool or AlmWolle insulation comes from our alpine pastures in Bavaria, Austria, and Switzerland. It's very stable and perfect for combining with down.
• For sleeping bags used in outdoor applications, robust and water-repellent outer fabrics are essential. We replace PFCs with environmentally friendly impregnations and use sustainable dyes. This is especially important to us because the toxins would enter the water cycle and our customers have a lot of skin contact with the materials.
• All our materials are certified according to the OEKO-TEX® 100 standard. Non-toxicity is important to us. That's why every part of a sleeping bag, from the outer fabric and filling to the zipper and print, is tested. This is very time-consuming for a sleeping bag, as it consists of many different materials. But it's worth it to us.
• Recycled materials only make sense if they retain their good properties and are durable. Such materials exist, but often too much different waste is recycled together, and the quality suffers. That's why we carefully select our recycled materials. Long durability makes more sense. 
• The best sewing factories for our ultra-thin and lightweight fabrics (20 g/m²) can be found in the Shanghai region. For comparison: a sheet of paper weighs approximately 80 g/m². We are, of course, also looking for a sewing factory in Europe of equivalent quality. This would further improve our ecological footprint, save considerable transportation costs, and offer a product "Made in Europe." Unfortunately, we haven't found one yet. Since the quality of the seam directly influences the lifespan of our products, we don't want to compromise on this. A long-lasting product avoids waste and saves valuable raw materials. We like that.
• We know our producers personally and have done so for a long time, and we maintain friendly relationships with them. We know where and how our products are manufactured. This is important to us. We don't want exploitation of either people or nature.

When our product is finally finished, we want to hold it in our hands with a smile and say with conviction that we did a great job. Otherwise, we won't enjoy our work or our product, and you probably won't either.

My team and I personally stand behind all of this!
Your Markus

Materials

We strive to use as many renewable raw materials as possible: cotton, wool, down, wood, and silk are already being processed. Alternatively, we use recycled synthetic fibers.

We use materials that are extremely durable. High mechanical strength and colorfastness are just as important as easy care and repairability. This guarantees a long service life.

lavalan® Alpine Wool

It is crucial for us that no sheep are tortured, neither during breeding nor during the shearing process. Therefore, we source our sheep wool from Baur Vliesstoffe from Dinkelsbühl and we are pleased about:

1. Short transport routes (sorting at local collection points, cleaning in traditional factories in Belgium and England, processing in Germany)
2. The quality of regional sheep wool and the work of Alpine shepherds are appreciated
3. Know-how about the production of wool fleece in Germany 
4. Ensuring animal welfare: Europe has the strictest animal welfare standards in the world. Legislation sets strict rules regarding feeding, husbandry, health, and appropriate behavior (sheep should always be kept in a way that ensures their physical functions and behavior are not disturbed and their adaptability is not overtaxed). For example, housing and enclosures must be provided with suitable feeding, drinking, dunging, resting, and retreat areas. Barns must be equipped with covering, exercise opportunities, grooming facilities, and climate-controlled rooms. Shearing is carried out without tail docking, also known as mulesing, which is normally required in the Southern Hemisphere. We can therefore claim that our European wool is completely mulesing-free.

 

 

 

 

 

Our down is RDS certified!

The down used to fill our sleeping bags and jackets comes from ducks and geese. These birds are subject to the strict protection of the RDS seal throughout their entire value chain. This protection begins immediately after hatching on the farms, continues throughout the bird's life, and continues through slaughter to the down producers and our sewing factories. This guarantees ethically impeccable origins.

The Responsible Down Standard is an independent, voluntary global standard that allows companies to certify their products according to the RDS, even when this is not legally required. The RDS was developed and revised over three years with the input of animal welfare groups, industry experts, brands, and retailers. The standard recognizes and rewards best practices in animal welfare.

 

The following standards are important for RDS:

 

 

 

seals and certifications

Our sleeping bags have an OEKOTEX certificate

It's important to us that everything on the sleeping bag, from the thread to the zipper, prints, ribbons, etc., is tested for harmful substances. OEKO-TEX® guarantees that the environment and people are protected.

OEKO-TEX® enables consumers and businesses to make responsible choices that preserve our planet for future generations.

Each individual item is tested in a laboratory to determine whether it is skin-friendly or contains other harmful chemicals.

The testing and certification processes behind the OEKO-TEX® standard guarantee the highest level of consumer safety.

PFC-free impregnation

 

Grüezi bag products have always been produced without chemical impregnation. We do not use PFC impregnation on the outer fabrics because we work with material know-how to water-repellent yet breathable material to obtain:

• Material: The outer fabric is made of durable, recycled, and lightweight nylon. It feels beautifully soft, smooth, and silky against the skin.
• The nylon is pulled over hot rollers to tighten the pores. This makes the fabric down-proof and impervious to clothes moths, yet remains naturally breathable without the usual plastic coating.
• The pores of the outer material do not clog during the dyeing process. We use environmentally friendly BEMACID dyes from the Swiss CHT Group. 
• PFC/PFAS-free impregnation: The products are treated with a permanently water-repellent, silicone-free, and bio-based impregnation (BeSoDRY by CHT) for optimal weather protection and maximum environmental compatibility. The synthetic sleeping bags have the environmentally friendly German impregnation BIONIC-FINISH® ECO with RUCO®-DRY ECO PLUS (without perfluorinated compounds and thus avoids the release of PFOS and PFOA).
• Colors: The products are with nSustainable BEMACID dyes (C2C by CHT), biologically safe, Cradle to Cradle® and bluesign® certified.
  
• The yarn and outer material are abrasion-resistant and therefore suitable for regular use with a backpack.

DEUTIM-Waldemarie CO₂-Compensation

A healthy environment is very important to us. That is why we support DEUTIM the preservation of healthy and climate-stable mixed forests in Germany.

• We have our CO₂-Balance sheet calculated and compared with the DEUTIM CO₂-Compensation (TÜV-certified) our unavoidable CO₂emissions.
• In addition, we reforest 1 square meter of forest for every purchase made through our shop.

The reforestation is carried out through the project "Waldemarie". Transparently and playfully it becomes visible where plantings are taking place.

Drought, storm damage, and pest infestation have resulted in vast areas of bare forests in our native forests in recent years, and we are now contributing to their reforestation through our forest commitment. The establishment and maintenance of species-rich mixed forests simultaneously creates a natural CO₂-Storage that binds our corporate emissions in the forest for the long term.

Our natural products, 100% compostable

DownWool Nature

Our customers repeatedly asked us to develop a sleeping bag that was 100% natural, from the thread to the last button. Grüezi bag has succeeded. The sleeping bag is made exclusively of wool, down, cotton, and wood.

DownWool Ice Compostable

What happens to a sleeping bag that's reached the end of its life? Into the trash? No, with the DownWool Ice CompostAble, we've created a 100% compostable sleeping bag. It can completely decompose under anaerobic conditions in 200 days, leaving nothing but fine soil behind!

Textile veredlung

We strive to process our ecologically sustainable materials, such as down and wool, as sustainably as possible in the production process.

• The Wood fibre compounds (Lyocell fiber) of our WoodWool shirts come from FSCE-certified forests and are obtained through an environmentally friendly manufacturing process (the necessary manufacturing materials are 99,8% biodegradable).
• The silk of our SilkWool jackets is made from recycled Italian silk.
• The outer fabric of our BioCotton duvet series is made from organic cotton. The cover of the duvet series is made from 20% SMARTCEL™, a high-tech wood fiber with naturally occurring zinc oxide. SMARTCEL™ has a lasting antibacterial, odor-inhibiting, and dust mite-fighting effect, thus contributing to the protection and recovery of healthy, stressed, irritated, or diseased skin.
• The outer and inner fabric of our products Made from ultra-lightweight, durable, and recycled 20 denier 380T nylon (100% polyamide), it feels incredibly soft, supple, and silky against the skin. This is achieved by pulling the fabric over hot rollers to tighten the pores. This makes the fabric down-proof, impermeable to clothes moths, and yet remains naturally soft. breathable without the usual plastic coatingThe pores don't clog thanks to the bio-based BeSoDRY-ECO waterproofing or the sustainable BEMACRON dyes. The outer material is therefore windproof and highly water-repellent, staving off snowfall and light drizzle.
• Impregnation and color are without environmental toxins (so).

transport routes.

We regionalize our supply chains as much as possible. This is how DownWool® and lavalan® AlmWolle Made in Germany, the raw materials for DownWool® and AlmWolle come from Europe.

Delivery to customers is climate-neutral with DHL. 

Multifunctionality and durability

• repair service for jackets and sleeping bags as well as filling refill service.
• Easy care: The jackets and sleeping bags can be washed by hand or in the washing machine. 
• The fabric construction and manufacturing are chosen so that the material and processing quality of Grüezi bag®-products is very highRobust outer fabrics, high-quality components, yarns, and superior craftsmanship guarantee a long-lasting product. For example, a round needle and careful, slow sewing are used for the thin outer shells. The children's sleeping bags can be extended with a zipper, ensuring long-term use.
• Insulation filling with wool base allows a wide range of uses of climate zones and temperature ranges and thus multifunctionality.