All APTION garments are constructed exclusively with New Zealand Mapp Merino Wool.
MAPP fabric is produced using exclusive ZQ Merino fibers sourced from only the highest quality farms. MAPP incorporates these ‘natural performance’ fibers into fabrics specifically designed for synergy within the active outdoors. MAPP is a guarantee of source, process, and functionality. MAPP Merino fabric is processed in facilities that meet the highest environmental standards and which carry both ISO 9000 and Blue Sign system partner accreditation.
ZQ Merino growers must provide the five key freedoms for all animals because these freedoms ensure a healthy, low-stress quality of life, which in turn enables the production of healthy, high-quality ZQ Merino fiber.
FREEDOM FROM UNNECESSARY PAIN OR DISTRESS
ZQ Merino growers must handle and manage sheep to avoid unnecessary stress and pain. Mulesing is not permitted on ZQ Merino farms, and farm facilities also need to be maintained to ensure they do not pose a risk of injury.
FREEDOM FROM SIGNIFICANT INJURY OR DISEASE
ZQ Merino growers are required to regularly monitor stock, prevent disease and illness and rapidly diagnose animal health issues. This is essential to ensuring stress and discomfort are minimized. Stockmanship knowledge is developed over generations of farming Merino sheep.
FREEDOM TO DISPLAY NORMAL PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOR
ZQ Merino sheep are free range and roam in open pastures, with typically more than one acre each. This allows them to display their natural patterns of behaviors with minimal human intervention or interference.
FREEDOM FROM DISCOMFORT OR INADEQUATE SHELTER
Merino sheep have evolved in environments with extremes of heat and cold, largely on account of their fleece, which means they are able to survive and thrive in these conditions. However, to further protect sheep from distress and to help ensure they produce the best fibre possible, ZQ Merino growers must ensure that their sheep have adequate shade and shelter available at all times.
FREEDOM FROM HUNGER OR THIRST
ZQ Merino sheep are farmed on a free-range basis which allows them to forage as they please. Well fed sheep with good nutrition are better able to cope with natural stress, such as extreme weather. Growers must manager their farms to ensure sheep always have access to clean water and adequate nutrition.
WHILE SOME WOOL CAN LOOK LIKE THIS…
Poor health and stress experienced by sheep are transferred into the fiber they produce. It creates uneven fiber diameter and ‘weak points’ which leads to poor quality and poor garment performance. Not to mention the suffering that the sheep will have been under during this time.
…ZQ MERINO WOOL LOOKS LIKE THIS.
ZQ Merino tends to be more uniform in diameter, and wool with weak points simply does not meet the ZQ Merino grade. This means that ZQ Merino provides consistent high quality high performing fiber year on year, season after season.
Mulesing is a surgical procedure that removes a section of skin from the sheep. It is carried out to reduce the risk of attack by flies (often described as flystrike). Mulesing is NOT permitted on properties that supply ZQ Merino. ZQ Merino growers have adopted integrated strategies to manage the risk of flystrike, without mulesing. ZQ Merino led the world to be the first accredited Merino fibre that guarantees mulesing does not occur. It is still the world’s main source of accredited non-mulesed wool.
ZQ Merino growers
ZQ Merino growers are regularly audited to confirm that they comply with the requirements of the ZQ Accreditation Manual. The manual provides guidelines to achieve fiber quality, animal welfare and health, care for the environment and social responsibility.
ZQ Merino is audited by AsureQuality, an internationally recognized assurance organization, compliant with ISO guide 65 and ISO 9001, and accredited with the Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand.
By choosing ZQ Merino products, you can be confident that the sheep producing the wool are humanely treated, well fed, live natural and healthy lives, and are not subjected to mulesing, which in turn means you are also buying Merino fiber of the very highest quality and performance.
Attritbutes:
Moisture Control and Management
ZQ Merino fibers have a complex structure with a hydrophilic (water holding) interior, known as the cortex and a hydrophobic (water repelling) exterior, known as the cuticle. MAPP fabric will absorb perspiration without making you feel damp and uncomfortable, with the added benefit of being naturally shower repellent.
Thermal Control Natural Aircon
ZQ Merino fiber buffers the body’s microclimate in changing conditions, maintaining comfort. As it absorbs moisture, from a cool, damp environment, the fibers release a small but perceptible amount of heat. This heat is known as ‘heat of sorption’ and is generated via a natural chemical reaction that occurs when the water vapor binds to the chemical structure of the Merino fiber. This acts to prevent the chilling. It is the original ‘intelligent’ fiber!
Odor Resistant
Human beings sweat! ZQ Merinos natural anti-microbial properties are renowned. The key is nature providing all the answers – and not some extra chemical finishing process. Each tiny ZQ Merino fiber consists of a multitude of overlapping scales, which coupled with the high level of
moisture absorption provides a poor environment for bacterial growth.
Comfort
ZQ Merino fibers have a complex structure with a hydrophilic (water holding) interior, known as the cortex and a hydrophobic (water repelling) exterior, known as the cuticle. MAPP fabric will absorb perspiration without making you feel damp and uncomfortable, with the added benefit of being naturally shower repellent.
Renewable, Natural and Environment Friendly
ZQ Merino is made from an annually renewable, natural fiber. It is durable when in use, yet recyclable and biodegradable at the end of its life cycle.