Behind the scenes at the Pendleton Mill

While researching my piece on Pendleton’s 100 year anniversary, I took a tour of the company’s 97-year old mill in Washougal, Wash., which, by the way, is attached to a factory store with killer deals on Pendleton products.

The tour takes about 45 minutes and is completely absorbing, especially if you’re into knitting or weaving. But really, anyone who is interested in seeing a great example of what “made in America” really means will get something out of it.

Pendleton sources their wool worldwide, as well as from at least two ranches in Oregon, whose wool they buy all of. By the time the raw wool reaches Washougal, it’s ready to be made into yarn, dyed and woven into cloth. The tour takes you from start to finish, from the 1950s-era machines that make yarn and whirl it on to spools to the humongous dye pots in the dye room, to the table where the blankets are folded into boxes and prepared for shipment.

You get to watch as mill employees set up the complex looms and laboriously hand-inspect every inch of fabric, which is then felted, dried, ironed and cut into individual blankets before the trim and Pendleton label are sewn on by hand. That’s right, sewn by hand.

My trip to the Pendleton mill reminded me that there are people behind the products that we purchase. It solidified for me that I want the money I spend to go to companies like Pendleton, who treat their employees well (many of the people I spoke to there have been working there for at least 20 years) and who have been committed to quality for a century.

The Washougal Mill is just across the river from Portland and is a great side trip on a jaunt down south. Click here for more information.

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