The Australian Wheatbag Store

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ABOUT US

SUMMARY:
The Australian Wheatbag store is an established, eco friendly design business with community roots that is focused on delivering exceptional, ergonomically designed and handmade wheatbags with a funky, contemporary style and look to discerning customers. We use sustainable and innovative means and design applications to make sure our products will bring you and your loved ones many years of comfort, relaxation, pain relief and pure pleasure.

BACKGROUND:
The Australian Wheatbag Store was born out of Wassberg Studios; an enterprise started by Åsa Wassberg making wheatbags and art/craft textiles and has been operating in Australia since 1995.
The principal designer, Åsa Wassberg, an Australian Swede, has her design roots firmly planted in Sweden (the country of birth) where she attended art schools and built the extensive awareness of functional Scandinavian design she now employs. The motto is the three Fs: form follows function!
Åsa Wassberg designs and silk screen prints The Australian Wheatbag Store`s fabrics which are then sewed into various wheatbags and other textile items. The production has always been kept locally based involving a supported employment facility in Mount Barker called Finding Workable Solutions The people who work there are actively recovering from metal health issues, are striving to get back into the community and are great sewing people.

Many products made by The Australian Wheatbag employ Supported Employment personnel

Caption: Our fantastic "Finding Workable Solution" supported employment team who do some of our sewing.

Sometimes we also employ people to assist in the office, workshop, warehouse and studio from an organization called Community Bridging Services. They provide staff from disadvantaged backgrounds (disability, mental issues, long term unemployment etc) that help us provide our products to the market.
Previously we worked with a Port Adelaide community organisation called Classic Linen Sewing Services with similar ethos (now closed).

The Australian Wheatbag Store operates out of our studios in Adelaide where we also have a Showroom – see contact details below. We also attend a variety of events over the year but primarily sell our wheatbags through this website and at larger Shows – see listing below.
We are always looking for input from our customers and would love if you wrote us an email with some feedback: info@theaustralianwheatbagstore.com.au

Showroom! By appointment only- please call mobile number below
5, Fourth Avenue, KLEMZIG, SA 5087 (north eastern inner suburbs of Adelaide)
M: 0407 626755
E: asa@theaustralianwheatbagstore.com.au

FORM AND AESTHETICS FOLLOW FUNCTION – A DESIGN PHILOSOPHY:
The designs of The Australian Wheatbag Store’s Wheatbags are unique to us.
We design them with maximum versatility and ergonomic flexibility in mind.
A wheatbag can last, if looked after properly, for up to 10 years of regular use. In that time you are likely to have wanted to use the wheatbag in a variety of location on your body. And other members of the family too! We think you should be able to do that, with ease.
You can mould our ergonomically designed wheatbags comfortably to your body, changing their shapes and redistributing the wheat grains to where you need them most, over and over again!
Our wheatbags are not hard and fully filled with wheat, unlike other wheatbags.
Instead, our Scandinavian functional design inspired wheatbags, can be moulded to fit anyone anywhere pretty much! A lot of design time has been spent on the functionality aspect, draping and seam sectioning of each kind of wheatbag.

We also design and silk screen print our own fabrics. We like to do that as we believe a wheatbag has as much right to look cool, hip and contemporary as your couch, rug or the curtains in your home. We want you to be able to leave it out of the cupboard after use and feel it complements your house and interior decorations. Why should we not demand beauty from our ordinary, everyday items that surround us every day? We are more exposed to those item on a daily basis than, say, that exclusive piece of designer clothing hanging in the wardrobe, which may get an airing once every 6 months! Our philosophy is that there is no contradiction between functionality and beauty. In fact we say that we should take every opportunity to decorate our everyday items as we believe beauty and colour have a profound, positive impact on us all.
We use an organic hemp/cotton fabric in four base colours that we then print on. The ink used for the printing is water based and heat fixated when dry. You can choose from designs like: Mercury, Storm, Blush, Paradise, Green Tea, Valhalla, Atlantis or Lagoon – our unique print patterns.

At The Australian Wheatbag Store we also provide a variety of pure, organic, essential oils infused in the wheat for your wheatbag to smell as nice as it looks! Lavender is traditionally thought to be calming and soothing and Vanilla romantic and grounding. The Peppermint, Eucalyptus (Lemon Scented Gum) and Lemon Myrtle are more invigorating and uplifting, cleansing and stimulating. Many people who like to use a shoulder shaped wheatbag at work (mainly people who work in an office) use any of the above scents as to not become too sleepy from the Lavender!
We recommend you should go with a scent YOU like and if you suffer from migraines etc, it may even be best to stay away from a scent altogether. All The Australian Wheatbag Store’s wheatbags are available unscented, perfect for those who are allergic or just sensitive to scents. A scent can always be added later – see Heating/Care Instructions

THE GREEN, ORGANIC AND SUSTAINABILITY PHILOSOPHY AND PRINCIPLES:
All our wheatbags are made by us in Australia, utilising a supported employment facility as well as working from our own studios in Adelaide. We try very hard to reduce our carbon footprint by keeping production local as well as encourage disadvantaged members of the community to support themselves. We also use hemp and organic cotton fabrics. Here are some good reasons for that practice:

The hemp fibre requires a lot less water and pesticides than cotton when grown.
The fabric made from the fibre is really strong and durable. There is a reason why this plant’s fibres have been used by humanity for thousands of years! To find out more about hemp fibre history and usage – see Hemp Wholesale Australia (www.hempwa.com) and The Hemp Gallery (www.hempgallery.com.au)
The hemp fibre has a more textured look and therefore reflects light differently. It resembles the linen fibre and we think it’s quite beautiful.
We at The Australian Wheatbag Store believe growing wheat organically is better for Australia and consequently the entire planet long term. Of course, it makes no difference to the function of the wheatbag whether the wheat is organic or not but we support the practise wherever we can. We recommend and use certified organic wheat from Four Leaf Milling in Tarlee, country South Australia (www.fourleafmilling.com.au)

We also believe that with small actions you can change big things, over time.
For us that means we use as much recycled paper and packaging as we can when we mail away your order. If you can re-use it again, that is great! No fancy boxes! We also use recycled storage boxes for stock in the warehouse and print any documents in the office on paper that has already had one life. We have also installed energy saving light bulbs in the premises and energy saving “sleep modes” on all computers to minimise unnecessary energy use.
By supporting other locally based businesses that make things for our use such as labels, printing on paper, grain merchants etc we keep the local economy flowing and locally based businesses thriving. At The Australia Wheatbag Store’s premises we cut down on heating during winter and cooling during summer by using hot or cold wheatbags. We think you don’t need to cool or heat your entire environment if you instead focus on cooling or heating your own person.
Basically we try to lead the business the way we lead our personal lives – with the environment, energy saving and sustainability as important as profit, stream lining, accounting systems.
Think Globally. Act Locally.

Our grains are supplied by a certified organic grains processor in South Australia. As we print our fabrics ourselves, our inks are water soluble (before they dry) and environmentally friendly. Wherever possible we source our fabrics from organic growers.

Hemp uses significantly less water to manufacture, making it more eco-friendly and sustainable than cotton. Many of our products are made entirely out of hemp and contain no synthetic fibers. If unsure, please read the product description carefully or drop us a line.

We reduce our carbon footprint as much as we possibly can in our production, we strive to lead in making the environment, energy-saving and sustainability as important as profits.

Our products are made entirely in Australia by us. Presently we are not using the golden kangaroo logo as there is significant annual cost associated with its use for a business. Please be assured that we do not import any of our products and they are 100% Australian made.

The Australian Wheatbag Store uses recyclable packaging for all our products. The plastic for our eye coolers is bio-degradable cellulose.