More information about us and our products
Below we have gathered our most asked questions about our materials, products and operations.
What is Ruskovilla?
Ruskovilla is a Finnish family business. Our headquarters, production and warehouse are located in Artjärvi in the Päijät-Häme region just on 1,5h drive away from the Finnish capital of Helsinki. In our story we’ll tell more about the history of our company as well as our core values.
Which materials do you use and where are they from?
From day one our core principle has been to sew high-quality products from natural fibers. Wool, silk, silkwool and cotton each have their unique qualities and therefore are best suited for different uses.
All of our main materials are certified organic. The well-being of both nature and humans are taken into consideration throughout the organic production process. Our mulesing-free organic wool is up to 7 times thinner than the wool from Finnish sheep and it comes from our long-term supplier from Argentina and Uruguay. Our silk comes from the Sichuan province in Central China that has one of the few organic silk farms in the world. Our silkwool is a combination of these two fibers. Our undyed organic cotton comes from India.
We tell more about each material’s origin, qualities and journey into a finished product in our web store.
Who makes your products and where?
We tell more about each material’s origin, qualities and journey into a finished product in our web store.
Most of the products we sell are sewn by our own trained and permanent professionals in the Artjärvi old dairy in the Päijät-Häme region. These and our other Finnish supplier’s products are marked with the Finnish Key Flag symbol.
Some of the products we sell, such as sheep skin rugs, washing liquids and yoga mats, come from our trusted long-term suppliers mainly in Europe and New Zealand. With these product groups we have always aimed to prioritize organic products whenever possible. All of these products are stored in Artjärvi so we are able to ship them out at the latest the next business day from your order.
How do I wash and care for my clothes?
Good care is part of our clothes’ ecological footprint since right wash and care routines considerably elongate the lifespan of the products. We give a more detailed care instructions for each material and product in our web shop. In addition, the key information can be found in the labels in our clothes as well as in the sales packaging for most of our clothes.
Airing is often enough to keep natural fibers fresh. As well as all other products also our products should be washed using bio-degradable washing liquids. For stain-removal we recommend gall soap that is safe for both humans and nature. Because we don’t use moth protection treatments harmful to both humans and nature in our products, we recommend that you use the original or other sealable plastic bag for storing your Ruskovilla items over the summer.
Why should I choose natural fibers over synthetic fibers?
Skin is our largest organ and via its two-way pores for example all the chemical particles in our clothing can enter our bodies. Therefore, it’s not indifferent what we put on our skin.
We have written a lot of useful background information on the natural fibers we use. In a nutshell we believe that over millennia nature has done an amazing job with product development and us human’s haven’t come even close with synthetic fibers. Silk and wool are great insulators: they feel cool when hot and keep you warm when it’s cold. Both can absorb considerable amounts of moisture in them without feeling wet. In the dry winter air wool and silk don’t become static as easily as manmade fibers.
Natural fibers are also relatively easy to take care of since for example wool is naturally dirt-repellent and odor-neutralizing and therefore airing is often enough to keep wool clothes fresh. Silk’s fine protein structure resembles human skin and is therefore well-suited also for people with allergies and sensitive skin. Whereas synthetic fibers usually light up in an instant, wool is a fire-safe material and therefore very convenient around campfires.
During washing and at the end of their lifecycle even product made out of recycled plastic give out microplastics into our water systems. Natural fibers on the other hand 100% decompose and become part of natural cycle.
Do you have a mending and prepare service?
Mending old product is always more environmentally friendly than buying a new product.
We don’t have an official mending service yet. However, our production is located just next to our headquarters and warehouse, so if needed we can easily mend our products as well as send out a fabric patch needed for mending.
By contacting our customer service, we can better assess your situation. Our staff at the factory outlet can also help with these matters.
Please wash your product before sending it to us for mending in order to make the mending process faster.
How have you taken the environment into consideration in your production?
Nature has given us all of the amazing natural fibers so in return we want to treat it well.
All of our materials are certified organic natural fibers, and during the entire production process the environment has been taken into consideration. According to the certificate criteria for example chemical fertilizers and monoculture (cultivation of a single crop) are forbidden, and various crops are being simultaneously farmed in order to keep the soil fertile. The dyeing processes takes place in a closed system with the use of reactive dyes where no dying residue is left. Compared to other textile production, for example chrom dyes or heavy metal salts are forbidden in the organic production. All of our organic materials are introduced more in depth here.
Our own products are sewn in Finland so that the shipping distances of our product remain short. Out of the best organic materials our own seamstresses carefully sew long-lasting products. The products have no toxic finishes, such as moth repellents, harmful to both nature and humans. Instead the original bag of the product, made of recycled plastic, acts as a moth repellent. During autumn and winter 2021 our product packaging will be changed to renewable sugar cane based bags.
We have designed out our entire production so that we use materials wisely and we have practiced circular economy long before the entire term even existed. For example, our white wool swatches are carded into filling for duvets and pillows and colorful swatches are turned into parquet underlays and other industrial mats. All our products are manufactured using 100% renewable energy, and we utilize renewable geothermal heat in keeping our manufacturing, storage and production facilities warm.
A big part of ecology of the product is the right wash and care. We only sell biodegradable and ecological washing detergents. Instead of frequently replacing items we encourage our customers to mend them.
During washing and at the end of their lifecycle even product made out of recycled plastic give out microplastics into our water systems. Natural fibers on the other hand 100% decompose and become part of natural cycle.
Do you carry products suitable for vegans?
While our main materials, wool and silk, are not vegan-friendly, we are able to serve vegan customers for example with our hemp duvets, millet husk pillows and cotton clothing for children and babies.
What does organic mean exactly?
All certified organic fibers are natural fibers, but not all natural fibers are produced according to the organic production principles. All the materials we at Ruskovilla use, such as wool, silk and cotton, have an organic certificate that tells about the ecological and ethical principles that have been used to produce these organic fibers.
According to the organic production principles the well-being of animals, soil and humans have been taken into consideration all the way from material production to the finished product. A lot of attention has been put into maintaining the fertility of the soil and only natural fertilized allowed. Ruskovilla’s products made out of these organic fibers have no harmful finishes. Therefore, they can be safely put on right after purchasing.
There are rigid criteria in place for workers’ trade union rights, salary and work safety, and the use of child labor is strictly forbidden in producing certified organic fibers. At the end of their lifecycle these natural fibers will decompose and return to be part of nature’s circle of life.
