- Is WÜN made with real wood?
Yes, WÜN cutlery is made with ‘real’ wood. No artificial, fake wood, or fillers are used.
- What kind of wood is used to make WÜN cutlery?
Mostly paper birch (Betula papyrifera) but testing has proven that trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) and red alder (Alnus rubra) can be used.
- What does WÜN stand for?
WÜN is the product name which we like to think of as … Wooden Utensils Naturally – and because it’s wünderful and WÜN is #1!
- Other than wood, what else is used in making WÜN cutlery?
WÜN is a laminated product so the two layers of wood are held together with edible glue. Also, the cutlery is coated with a kosher confectioners glaze, most often used to coat candy. It’s a food product and safe for consumption. That’s it – natural wood, edible glue and a confectioner’s glaze – no nasty chemicals.
- Why is the end of the cutlery shiny and not the whole thing?
The eating half of the cutlery – cutting edge on the knife, fork tines, and scooped portion of the spoon – are coated with the confectioners glaze to remove any wood taste or smell. The glaze is shiny while the rest of the handle, which is bare wood, has a more natural sheen.
- Does Aspenware log trees?
Aspenware uses logs from trees that were cut down during the harvesting of softwoods such as fir and spruce. The birch was cut down and would have been left to rot, burned in cull piles or maybe cut up for firewood if we hadn’t bought it to use to make our cutlery. By diverting these trees WÜN helps reduce the carbon footprint of these logs.
- Does Aspenware create waste wood?
Aspenware is currently in the process of figuring out how to best utilize wood that does not make it as cutlery. We are working towards our goal of zero waste!
- Does WÜN cutlery smell and taste like wood?
Yes and no. Birch and aspen really don’t have a heavy wood smell or much of a taste. Think of the old wooden mixing spoons – they didn’t really have a wood smell or taste. WÜN cutlery is much the same. Besides, our cutlery is coated with a confectioners glaze or, as we like to say it is ‘sugar coated.’
- Is WÜN cutlery re-usable?
Sometimes, but it depends on the usage. It can be used over the weekend and lightly cleaned, however, WÜN is intended for single use and was not designed to be put in a dishwasher or soak in a sink for long periods of time.
- What’s the best way to dispose of WÜN cutlery?
Throw it in the compost, WÜN is made of all natural products so disposal really isn’t an issue.
- How fast does WÜN cutlery decompose?
The decomposition study found that even under less than ideal conditions, WÜN cutlery was approximately 33% decomposed after 45 days, and with proper management it was estimated to be totally broken down in 65 days . Further studies are being conducted and the results will be reported on our web site.
- Is WÜN like plastic cutlery?
No, not at all, in fact, we think it’s much better than plastic and believe it is the only truly sustainable alternative. WÜN is made from wood, each piece is unique in color, hue and wood grain. What may appear as an imperfection, such as a crack or roughness, is nothing more than the natural characteristics of the wood showing through.
