History of Vellux

Mr Francis Spencer was responsible for inventing the Vellux blanket in 1966 while working for the world’s largest textile company, now known as WestPoint Home USA. The blanket became the company's mainstay, and continues to dominate the Blanket market worldwide.

Vellux Blankets are made from a unique, very light-weight yet durable fabric that insulates well and feels as soft as velvet. The name derives from "vel" for velvet, and "lux" from the Latin for light. The blanket material consists of two layers of a dual density foam melted onto a central membrane and covered with nylon ‘flock’, requiring no weaving at all. Francis Spencer's name is on patents for both the machines and the process of making Vellux blankets. 

The blankets quickly became a favourite among both households and leading hotels for their lightness, thermal properties, long life and easy-care laundering. In 1999, Australian textile businessman John Collins negotiated an agreement with WestPoint Home USA to become their partner in Australia and to launch the Vellux brand among Australian retailers. John worked with the USA company in developing a variation of Vellux that would better suit the Australian climate and comfortably fit the larger than normal size beds which are common in Australia.

John originally shipped the Vellux fabric into Australia for making into Blankets, however, the decline in local textile manufacturing placed growing constraints on the sewing operation and, after 20 years, forced the decision to move the stitching to WestPoint Home’s own factory in China. Every batch of fabric produced for Australia is independently tested for compliance to a strict set of quality and performance protocols before being stitched into our generously sized blankets.

John was a passionate advocate of Vellux and would never sleep under anything else! His family continue to run the business from their head office in Sydney and every blanket is shipped from that warehouse straight to you.

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