Merino Retract combines wool yarns with high-power elastane before or during knitting. Woolmark explains that wet finishing lets the elastane retract, drawing the fabric into a compact structure with a casual boiled-wool appearance. Knitting begins looser than usual to avoid an excessively dense finished garment.

Merino Retract Uses Elastane to Create a Boiled-Wool Look

The look therefore does not mean the fabric was produced only by conventional felting. Its composition and finishing mechanism supply essential identification details. Elastane is part of the described construction, even where the surface continues to present the characteristic visual texture of a wool garment.