Allure Fine Fiber and Fabric Wash Developer Eileen Koop of Bijou Basin Ranch

Allure Fine Fiber and Fabric Wash Developer Eileen Koop of Bijou Basin Ranch visited with the Yarn Thing Podcast with Marly Bird this morning. Bijou Basin Ranch is one of the smart folks who sponsor the podcast so it’s always nice to catch up and find out what’s new for the upcoming year!

Eileen, on the left, and Marly.

Eileen Koop has a background in product development for consumer product companies, beginning in New Jersey for Airwick Industries (now called Reckitt Benckiser), then to Collegate-Palmolive, then to Colorado with Scotts Liquid Gold and then Orange Glo International. When she first started out, besides product testing, she invented a breath spray called Binaca. later came Collegate Gell toothpaste, Brut aftershave men’s cologne with Karl Lagerfeld, and the Alpha Hydroxy, invented anti-aging skin care category.

While at Orange Glo, it was sold and as an executive she received a nice financial package, which she then needed to invest. So she and Carl bought a ranch and then began researching what to do with it agriculturally. Carl discovered YAKS, and Eileen used her contacts to develop yak fiber and yarns. She also used her chemical background and researched how to get stains out of fibers and fabrics.  She researched this so that her finished yarns had a soft feel and therefore more sale-able, which then became Allure Fine Fiber Wash.

Eileen explained how it works as a no-rinse product. The wash lifts the oils from the fabric into the water and when it’s drained the oils and dirt go away. It also has an agent that smooths the fiber rather than leaving the fiber standing up. Some cleaning products uses optical whiteners which makes the eye think because it’s brighter that it’s cleaner, and amazingly is used in some products that considered fine washes or even baby’s clothing washes. She is careful with chemicals and fragrances. Prairie Breeze is lavender and citrus scents, and the Woodland is sandalwood, a bit a eucalyptus with cypress, vanilla and jasmine. For those who are strictly Scent-sensitive there is the unscented option as well. AND is machine or hand soak compatible, even the HE machines, still can be taken through TSA if necessary.

Eileen continues to consider other products like hand-moisturizers, but is continuing to market Allure to everyone, in a range of sizes. She credits Carl with having come up with the name.

Bijou Basin Ranch has some wonderful videos of their Yaks, so to include them in the show notes, here is the link to their YouTube channel, there are three videos created by Interweave. Watch them with your kids!

If you missed hearing this earlier, it is available in the archive: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/yarnthing/2015/03/05/allure-fine-fiber-and-fabric-wash-developer-eileen-koop-of-bijou-basin-ranch or in iTunes.

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