Manufacturing

Experience counts. You can trust Kelly & Windsor, Australia's premier quilt manufacturer

We are a specialized manufacturer and distributor of premium quality high end luxury bedding, made in Australia with locally grown alpaca, wool and other specialty natural fibres.

As a vertical manufacturer, Kelly & Windsor is able to closely control and manage each step of our key manufacturing processes. These key steps are critical to manufacturing our luxury quilt collections and several of these manufacturing processes can be seen in the news section of this site.

Kelly & Windsor actively involves and encourages the participation of all staff in its business. This philosophy has on a number of occasions resulted in improved product design, quality, process and systems. The new UltraSoft quilting design is an example, where staff participation and team work resulted in the creation of a completely new and innovative quilting design.

Our quilting design significantly improves the quality of our alpaca quilts in their softness, warmth, appearance and performance.  An outstanding example of the experience and ability of the Kelly & Windsor manufacturing team.

Our Manufacturing Process

Alpaca Fleece - the essential raw ingredient

Alpaca is a very rare exotic fibre. The global production of alpaca fleece is less than one hundredth of one per cent of sheep wool production. As with any natural fibre the quality of alpaca fleece can vary considerably from one season to the next, from one alpaca stud farm to another and even from which part of the animal the fleece is shorn.

The classing of incoming alpaca fleece is a very specialized skill and is a critical part of the alpaca bedding manufacturing process. At Kelly & Windsor we carefully assess each incoming fleece lot for fibre thickness (as measured in microns), fibre length, colour, consistency and vegetable contamination.

The alpaca fleece used in the manufacture of the Kelly & Windsor alpaca quilt collections has been carefully inspected and graded against our strict control specifications to ensure that it is of world-class quality.

Cover Fabrics - Quality is #1

Apart from alpaca fleece, Kelly & Windsor purchases other quality raw materials for the manufacture of its quilt collections. We place a high priority on buying our raw materials from Australian sources. This is not always possible because some locally manufactured materials do not meet our quality criteria or are simply not manufactured in Australia.

When incoming raw materials, fabrics, trims, packaging are received, they are carefully inspected to ensure that they meet our strict quality requirements and specifications. This is an essential process which is undertaken for every item we purchase.

Combing/carding - the 1st secret in making a quality quilt

After careful grading, sorting and preparation of the alpaca fleece, it is combed on a specialized carding machine to align the alpaca fibre and to maximize its loft and evenness across the quilt. The carding and combing process, which originates from the industrialization of the textile industry over two hundred years ago is a very specialized process. Carding requires a high level of skill and experience to achieve the correct balance of fibre alignment and evenness.

One hundred percent pure Alpaca fleece is particularly difficult to card, due to the smoothness and length of the actual fibre. Kelly & Windsor have modified traditional carding equipment and adapted various carding techniques to be able to card and comb the alpaca fleece in wide width configurations and with various weight options. World class experience and quality!

Cross lapping - the 2nd secret in making a quality quilt

This is the mechanical process of creating a multi-layered web of fibres with a specific weight and width suitable for the manufacture of quilts. After carding and combing, the result is a gossamer thin fibre web which is then cross laid, layer upon layer to create the fleece filling for the quilt. Kelly & Windsor has installed state of the art cross lapping equipment which is computer controlled to manage the laying up of carded alpaca fleece fibres.

Our pure Alpaca Gold 500 quilt's filling is actually made of twenty-six very fine layers of pure alpaca fleece. These layers optimize the loft, warmth and quality of the finished quilt.

Quilting - Australia's best

Kelly & Windsor are Australia's quilting specialists with modern and flexible quilting equipment. We use the latest technology combined with leading experience to manufacture Australia's finest bedding quilts.

We have two quilting lines which are state of the art technology which can manufacture an wide range of our alpaca and wool quilts in various weights and sizes.. We are able to produce the super king size and larger export sizes for export markets especially for the North American markets where they have super large quilts.

Trim designs - Innovation and style

After the quilting process, the quilts and underblankets are bound with an edge trim and care labels are sewn on. This process requires considerable skill and care, especially with the special edge trims which feature on our Alpaca Gold quilts.

After binding another inspection is performed to ensure that there are no faults in the quilt or underblanket and that the edge trim is correctly aligned and finished.

Quality Guarantee

In each stage of the manufacture of Kelly & Windsor's bedding products there is a process of quality inspection, from the receipt of raw materials to the final packing of the product.

The last stage of the manufacturing process is the final inspection and packing. Every article is individually inspected before packing. The packing date is recorded for each item enabling Kelly & Windsor to trace products as part of our TQM (total quality management system).

Our quilts, duvets, doonas, underblankets and pillows are guaranteed for -

• The finest quality materials
• The highest manufacturing quality
• That they are genuinely 100% made in Australia

We ship to customers with premium quality carriers whom we have been working with for many years. Our carriers have the capability to reliably deliver a customer's order in a prompt manner without damage.