Cozy up your home with design, texture and color! Our artisan-made eco-friendly wool coasters protect your table and countertops from hot or cold beverages while looking beautiful, naturally. Crafted from fine New Zealand wool and azo-free dyes using age-old techniques. Handmade in Nepal by a Fair Trade women's cooperative. Size: Each coaster is approx. 4 in diameter Care: Spot clean as needed. Do not machine wash or dry. The Art of Felting: The first step to creating these beautiful felt pieces begins with gathering some of the world's finest sheep's wool from New Zealand. Making felted wool is an ages-old, time-consuming process of bonding fabric with fiber. This is a physical job where the artisan's scrub, rub, roll and rinse the wool again and again with soapy water. Once the wool is bound into a sheet and the desired thickness is complete, the felt is laid out to dry. From there, the felt wool is cut and re-worked into many complex shapes and designs. The many sheets of wool might merge several colors to create patterns and layers. This takes a well-trained, talented artisan and is a true labor of love. The end results are colorful, one-of-a-kind textiles that are stunning to behold.Global Groove is a fair trade organization working with women by supporting and developing artisan co-ops in Thailand and Nepal. The Fair Trade industry is expanding and we are proud to be a part of a sustainable movement that is changing lives. We design, develop, produce and source fairly traded lifestyle products with a commitment to the sustainability of production and the cultural heritage of the artisan groups. We inhale its people, its landscapes, its colors, its flavors, its very scent, and we exhale to create inspirational products symbolic of our traveling experiences. Global Groove encourages travel because the knowledge, acceptance and understanding of different ways, people and ideas is the very colorful road to a respectful, safer, kinder world.