The turtleneck sweater
Released in September 2019
Released in September 2021
New wool: to prevent shrinking in the wash, the old wool went through an electrical treatment known as "plasma", but this weakened it and could, among other things, cause seams to tear. We've switched to a wool with a more conventional treatment known as "total easy care": Tollegno Harmony 4.0 wool.
Released in February 2023
The collar has been loosened a little further for extra comfort
Thicker sweater: we've switched to 2 twisted threads (vs. 1 in the previous generation) to make it warmer, more resistant to abrasion and to delay the appearance of holes at the elbows.
We now assemble the different panels of the sweater with a sewing machine instead of using a linking machine (where the stitches are knitted one by one with a woollen thread). Granted, it's less artisanal, but experience has shown us that it's much sturdier: with a sewn assembly, there's less risk of the seams splitting.
Wool keeps you warm because it traps nearly 80% air in its fibres. For this piece, we use a fine merino wool: with a diameter of just 19.5 microns, it makes for a sweater that's soft as well as warm.
Our wool comes from Tollegno 1900, a well-known Italian spinner. We also use this same quality for our thick sweater.
Medium-weight sweater that keeps you warm: it weighs about 500g in size M. It's thicker than our lightweight sweater, and thinner than our heavyweight sweater.
The wool is treated so it can be machine-washed without felting. We still recommend using the wool programme, or just airing it out from time to time (wool doesn't need washing).
This sweater is made in Portugal, at the Elmate factory we've been working with since 2018.
Worn, tested and approved by thousands of customers, this sweater is the result of several years of continuous improvement. We've refined it over time to reach a quality-ethics-price balance we now consider optimal. For example, we could use virgin wool (that is, wool not treated for machine washing), but it would come at the expense of durability: in the past, we had a lot of returns of sweaters that had felted because they were accidentally put in the machine.
The techniques behind the quality
Sewn seams
Generally, "fully fashion" sweaters knitted in shaped panels (like ours) are joined by linking, a technique where the stitches are re-knitted together one by one. We prefer to assemble ours with seams: in our experience, this stops the seams from splitting at the shoulders or underarms.
Sewn seams
Total Easy Care treatment
Knitted as tightly as possible
Pre-washed
Total Easy Care treatment
With water, friction and heat, untreated wool shrinks and compacts (it's said to "felt"). At a microscopic level, this happens because the scales of the fibre catch onto each other. To prevent this, a Total Easy Care treatment, also called Superwash or KROY-ERCOSETT, is applied. The principle: the scales of the fibre are oxidised, then a very fine resin is applied that forms a continuous film, which stops the fibres from catching and therefore keeps the wool from felting.
This treatment can be polluting if it's carried out in countries with low environmental standards. That's why we source from a factory based in Italy and known for its high environmental standards (Oekotex 100 and 4S CHEM certification, more info here).
If you prefer pure new wool sweaters (meaning untreated) and you don't mind hand-washing them, take a look at our fine-knit sweater, our polo-collar sweater and our ribbed sweater.
Sewn seams
Total Easy Care treatment
Knitted as tightly as possible
Pre-washed
Knitted as tightly as possible
The stitch is knitted as tightly as possible. This uses more yarn and therefore costs more, but it keeps pilling to a minimum and gives the sweater more structure.
Sewn seams
Total Easy Care treatment
Knitted as tightly as possible
Pre-washed
Pre-washed
This sweater is pre-washed at the factory (before it's sewn, while it's still in panel form).
Sewn seams
Total Easy Care treatment
Knitted as tightly as possible
Pre-washed
Up to our necks
A turtleneck a bit thicker than average, which keeps you warm without itching – we use merino wool that's fine enough for that. The collar is designed to hold its shape without being too tight, the seams are sturdy, and the whole thing is machine washable.
In detail
Jersey stitch
A smooth stitch that limits snags and pilling.
Turtleneck
This area is knitted in a 1/1 rib (one knit stitch, one purl stitch), a stitch that moulds to the shape of your neck without feeling tight. You can easily adjust the height by playing around with the size of the fold.
Classic fit
The cut follows the line of the body without clinging. And because wool is naturally stretchy, this sweater fits every body shape.
"Fully fashioned" knitting
The panels (back, front, sleeves and collar) are knitted directly into the right shape: it fits better, and it avoids wasting wool.
How to wear it
A few ideas if you're stuck
Composition
100% wool
Origin and certifications
- Wool: Australia or South America depending on the production batch
- Spinning and dyeing: Poland, Italy or Bulgaria depending on the production batch
- Knitting, garment-making and pre-washing: Portugal
... not wool from French sheep? Because it's sadly less fine than wool from the southern hemisphere, and because the French supply chain has almost completely disappeared. We explain all of this in more detail on this page.
How this product will age
How do we know? We ask our customers what they think of the product one year after they've bought it. And if the product is less than a year old, we give you our predictions based on some spontaneous feedback and on our experience with similar products.
This sweater won't stretch out of shape at all, thanks to the elastic properties of wool. There's very little chance it will ever get holes at the elbows, thanks to the thickness of the fabric (to date, only a small handful of people have reported a hole to us).
It might occasionally pill a little in areas of friction, on the sides for example... but nothing a pass with a fabric shaver can't fix (and the more pilling you remove, the less likely it is to come back).
The biggest risk with this wool sweater is moths, if they settle into your wardrobe! So here's a short article to read here to keep them from showing up at your place.
Care instructions
Wool is fungicidal and bactericidal: it doesn't hold on to smells. So there's no need to wash the sweater. If needed, air it out.
If you really insist, your sweater is machine-washable: we've given it a "Total easy care" treatment to reduce felting and stop it from shrinking three sizes. But use the wool cycle: it may still shrink a little with a standard 30°C cycle. Use a special wool detergent if you can – the enzymes in standard detergents can eat away at wool. But no worries if you don't have any, there's no real risk in small doses. After three wash tests with standard and special wool detergents, we found no difference in softness or fragility on our sweaters.
No tumble dryer, to avoid shrinking it, but don't dry it on a hanger either: your damp sweater is heavy and could lose its shape under the weight of the water. The best thing for its lifespan is to dry it flat, on a drying rack or a towel.
If a hole starts to form at the elbow (some people have slightly pointy ones :), take it to a tailor quickly to have it mended. It usually costs less than 10 euros. If it's too late, you can also try elbow patches. Same goes for a pulled thread: don't cut it, take it to a tailor to limit the damage.
Bobbling appears in areas of friction? It happens. In this article we explain how to de-pill your clothes effectively.
If the ends of your sweater lose their shape, we explain here how to fix this easily using nothing but your iron.
Environmental cost
This environmental cost is calculated using the official methodology of the French environmental labelling scheme (in force since 1 October 2025).
The label above shows the product's environmental cost according to the official methodology of the French environmental labelling scheme. This is what its manufacture "costs" nature when you look at its impact on climate change, ocean acidification, its toxicity to fresh water, and so on. Currently rolled out in the textile sector, this label should soon appear on many everyday consumer products (food, cosmetics, furniture, etc.) to help you shop in a more responsible way.
The roll-neck sweater therefore has an environmental cost of 2425 impact points*.
By comparison, a garment of equivalent weight, 100% acrylic, made in Bangladesh and sold by a fast fashion brand, has an environmental cost of 2974 points*.
Why the difference? Here are the main reasons:
- The countries of production: manufacturing in Portugal or France uses less fossil fuel than in Bangladesh (one of the main producers of low-cost clothing). The result: this more local manufacturing limits the impacts on climate change, ocean acidification and resource depletion.
- The material: wool has a fairly significant environmental impact, partly because sheep release methane when they digest their food, a gas with a strong greenhouse effect. That's why the difference between our product's impact and fast fashion's isn't very large. However, unlike acrylic, wool has big advantages: it's warm (thanks to its insulating properties), keeps its shape (the fibre is very elastic), breathable (it wicks away sweat) and odour-resistant (it stops bacteria from developing).
- Durability: fast fashion brands drive purchases by refreshing their collections very quickly and offering a huge number of styles, and they discourage repairs by charging laughably low prices. This increases the number of garments sold per person and reduces the number of times a garment is worn. At Loom, we've chosen the opposite: business practices that encourage our customers to keep their clothes as long as possible.
Even though we've done everything to make it as low as possible, this product's environmental impact isn't negligible. So before you buy, make your clothes last as long as you can.
*Calculations made by Loom on 31/08/2026. Click the links to access the simulations from the official Ecobalyse tool and get more details about the assumptions used. Please note: the number of points is not always exactly the same on Ecobalyse (whose method changes regularly) as on the official environmental label (based on version 7.0 of Ecobalyse)
Reviews for this product
The standard practice is to send review request e-mails a few days after the purchase. We wait a month, the minimum time needed to form a well-informed opinion
Customer review policy
When do you ask customers for reviews?
We send you a review request one month after you receive your order. We reckon that's the minimum amount of time needed to have worn and washed a garment several times and to really form a well-informed opinion. After that, all your reviews are published within the week, whether they're good or not.
Do you ask for reviews on 100% of the products customers order?
We used to do that at first, then we realised we were starting to send far too many emails to some people who buy from us regularly. In short, we were spamming a bit. On top of that, it was starting to take up way too much of the team's time to reply to reviews - since we want to reply individually and privately to almost every person who leaves us a review. Today, we no longer ask for reviews on products that meet the following two criteria: 1/ There are enough reviews shown on the site for people who want to buy to form a well-informed opinion about the product 2/ We've read enough reviews within the Loom team to understand how to improve the product for the next generation.
Hold your horses: what proves we don't tamper with reviews by slapping 5 stars everywhere?
Honestly: nothing, we're just giving you our word. Same as for everything else, by the way: where we manufacture, where our wool comes from, our lab test scores, and so on. The only times we might touch what you write are if your message contains spelling mistakes (and even then, quite a few slip past us) or if it's racist, homophobic, and so on (but that's never happened so far).
Asking for a review after a month isn't enough to know whether the clothes really are durable, is it?
You're right, which is why we send you another review request email a year after your purchase – we even ask for a photo to see how your garment has aged. The answers help us improve our clothes and provide information about "how this product will age" on our product pages. To avoid bothering our customers needlessly, we don't ask for these reviews on 100% of the products ordered: as soon as we have enough data to understand the areas for improvement, we stop asking for the one-year reviews.