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Where to buy deadstock wool in Vancouver and Toronto
Deadstock wool in Vancouver and Toronto: named suppliers, opening hours, minimums and what each carries for mending, plus shipping and pickup.
What to take away
- Deadstock wool is mill surplus and end-of-run knit fabric that never reached a retail shelf, and in Vancouver and Toronto it is the cheapest way to buy mending-quality wool by the metre.
- Vancouver's named sources are Our Social Fabric, Fabcycle and Dressew Supply, with weekend windows at the first two and weekday retail hours at Dressew.
- Toronto's named sources are Affordable Textiles, King Textiles, The workroom, Value Village and Double Take, plus the city's material exchange listing.
- Minimums run from one pound of mixed offcuts to a one-metre cut, so even a single cuff repair is affordable.
- Imported wool carries duty and tax, so check the customs tariff before ordering a pallet from abroad.
- Bring a burn test and a fibre-content check to any unlabelled lot. Mill ends are often mislabelled by blend.
What deadstock wool is and why menders use it
Deadstock wool is fabric a mill, knitter or garment factory made and then did not sell. It sits as end-of-run bolts, sample yardage, cancelled-order rolls or cutting-room offcuts. Some of it is pure wool. Some is a wool blend with nylon or acrylic, which matters when you match a repair to an existing garment.
For mending, deadstock solves a specific problem. New wool suiting and coating is expensive by the metre, and matching a twenty-year-old sweater or coat from current stock is often impossible. Deadstock gives you older colours, heavier weights and discontinued weaves at a fraction of retail.
It also suits small repair work. A cuff, an elbow patch or a moth hole needs 20 cm, not two metres. Sellers who cut by the metre or weigh remnants let you buy that quantity without committing to a roll.
Menders like deadstock because the fibre is already in circulation. Buying it keeps usable wool out of landfill and avoids the water and energy of new production. That is a practical argument as much as an ethical one: the fabric is cheaper and often better quality than budget new wool.
If you are working with unlabelled knitwear, the fibre question gets harder. Our guide to reclaimed wool and unlabeled knits explains how to identify what you are holding before you cut into it.
Vancouver deadstock and mill-end suppliers: names, hours, minimums
Vancouver sits close to mills and importers. Surplus from that trade moves through a handful of shops and volunteer operations rather than one big market, so the three names below are the ones worth a trip.
Our Social Fabric
Our Social Fabric is a volunteer-run textile diversion shop in East Vancouver that resells donated deadstock from local manufacturers and design studios. Wool coating, suiting and sweater knit appear regularly, usually in short bolts of one to five metres.
Its posted hours centre on a Saturday window, roughly 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with one weekday evening opening. Confirm the current schedule before travelling, because volunteer shifts change month to month. The minimum is one pound sold by weight, or a single cut piece.
Fabcycle
Fabcycle is a Vancouver deadstock seller that collects mill and studio remnants and sells them by weight. Orders go in online for pickup, and weekend market days, usually Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., are when the wool bins are fullest.
The minimum is one pound, which suits menders who want a mix rather than a bolt. Stock leans to wool coating, blanket wool and sweater knit, with occasional wool suiting.
Dressew Supply
Dressew Supply on West Hastings Street is the city's long-running sewing and fabric retailer, open Monday to Saturday, roughly 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and closed Sunday. It cuts by the metre with a one-metre minimum.
For mending, the useful stock is wool melton, coating, blanket wool and wool blends, plus a remnant bin sold by the piece. That bin is where matching oddments turn up first. Our page on where to buy deadstock wool Vancouver keeps the current Vancouver names together.
For anyone turning this into a small repair business, the province publishes resources and support for businesses and entrepreneurs in B.C. that cover registration, tax and record keeping.
Toronto deadstock and mill-end suppliers: names, hours, minimums
Toronto has more volume and more variety than Vancouver. Surplus moves through closeout fabric warehouses, a sewing-studio shop, thrift chains and the city's own material exchange listing.
Affordable Textiles
Affordable Textiles on Castlefield Avenue sells closeout and deadstock fashion fabric by the metre, with a one-metre minimum. Posted hours are Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
For mending, the wool stock runs to coating, melton and wool blends, often on discontinued full rolls. Bring a swatch of the garment you are repairing so you can match weight under daylight.
King Textiles
King Textiles on Richmond Street West carries wool suiting, coating and tropical wool, and cuts from one metre. Hours are Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.
This is the better Toronto stop for fine wool to patch trousers and lightweight jackets. The stock is closeout rather than mill-direct, so colours repeat less often across visits.
The workroom
The workroom on Queen Street West is a sewing studio with a shop attached, open Tuesday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. It sells deadstock cuts and remnants, with a one-cut or fat-quarter minimum.
Wool suiting, coating and knits come through in small quantities. Because it is a working studio, staff can tell you the fibre content and weight, which most surplus sellers cannot.
Value Village and Double Take
Thrift chains supply mending wool by the garment rather than the metre. Value Village stores across Toronto run daily hours, generally 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Double Take on Gerrard Street East opens Monday to Saturday, roughly 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The minimum is one item. Wool coats, blazers and blankets are the best value here, especially in discontinued colours that no fabric shop stocks. Wash and felt the leftovers before use.
Toronto material exchange directory
The City of Toronto runs a Material Exchange Directory that lists businesses and organizations offering surplus materials, including textiles. It is a listing service, not a shop, so hours and minimums depend on each organization.
Use it to find smaller Toronto operations that do not advertise. Listings change, so confirm details directly. The city also runs broader waste reduction programmes that support textile diversion.
Comparing what each supplier carries for mending
Use this table as a starting filter. Confirm hours and minimums before travelling, because small operations change them without notice.
| Supplier | City | Hours | Minimum | Best wool for mending |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Our Social Fabric | Vancouver | Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., one weekday evening | 1 pound by weight | Coating, suiting, sweater knit |
| Fabcycle | Vancouver | Online pickup, Saturday market 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. | 1 pound | Coating, blanket wool, sweater knit |
| Dressew Supply | Vancouver | Monday to Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. | 1 metre cut | Melton, coating, blanket wool, remnants |
| Affordable Textiles | Toronto | Monday to Friday 9 to 5, Saturday 9 to 4 | 1 metre cut | Coating, melton, wool blends |
| King Textiles | Toronto | Monday to Saturday 10 to 6, Sunday 12 to 5 | 1 metre cut | Suiting, coating, tropical wool |
| The workroom | Toronto | Tuesday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. | 1 cut or fat quarter | Suiting, coating, knits |
| Value Village and Double Take | Toronto | Daily 9 to 9; Double Take Monday to Saturday 10 to 6 | 1 garment | Vintage coating, blankets |
Weight matters more than colour for structural repairs. Heavy melton and blanket wool patch outerwear. Fine suiting and wool crepe suit trousers and lightweight jackets. Sweater knit is for darning and re-knitting, not for patching a coat.
Match the weave direction and the fibre blend where you can. A pure wool patch on a wool and nylon blend will wear differently and show at the edges within a season.
How to buy deadstock wool in small quantities
Small buyers get the best results by asking specific questions and buying to a plan. Work through these steps.
- Decide the job first. Write down the garment, the repair type and the approximate patch size before you shop. A cuff repair needs a different wool from a moth-hole darn.
- Call or message ahead. Ask for fibre content, width, weight in grams per square metre and the current minimum. Small sellers rarely list this online.
- Ask for a swatch or a daylight photo. Screens distort colour, and deadstock dye lots are one-offs.
- Burn-test the fibre before you commit. Wool smells of burnt hair and crumbles, while polyester melts and beads.
- Buy the whole cut if the colour matches. One matching metre beats three cheap metres that do not.
- Record what you bought. Note the fibre, weight, seller and date so you can reorder or match later.
If you are stocking a studio rather than a single repair, our guide to visible mending storage covers how to plan volumes and avoid dead stock of your own.
A worked example. You have a 1960s wool coat with a worn right cuff and two moth holes near the hem. You need roughly 0.3 square metres of heavy coating in a discontinued brown. In Vancouver, Our Social Fabric or the Dressew remnant bin is the likely match, at a one-pound or one-cut minimum.
In Toronto, Affordable Textiles or a Value Village coat in the right colour is faster. Buy the largest matching piece available, felt the offcuts, and keep the rest labelled for the next repair on the same coat.
For matching thread, interfacing and patch technique, our patch fabric and thread guide sets out what to pair with wool.
Shipping and pickup options between Vancouver and Toronto
Most deadstock sellers are pickup only. Volunteer shops, thrift chains and closeout warehouses generally will not ship small orders, because sorting and packing does not pay. Plan to collect in person or ask a friend.
When a seller does ship within Canada, expect Canada Post or a courier priced by weight and distance. Wool is heavy, so a two-kilogram parcel between the two cities is a real cost. Ask for the quote before committing.
Cross-border orders add customs. If you buy deadstock wool from outside Canada, the guide to importing commercial goods into Canada explains the preparation steps. The Canadian customs tariff is where you classify wool and textile goods to work out duty and tax.
For small personal orders the paperwork is lighter, but duty and GST or HST still apply. Keep the invoice and the tracking record.
If you work from a small studio, storage discipline matters as much as sourcing. Our notes on creative mending in a small space cover how to keep wool lots sorted without a dedicated room.
Common questions
Do I need a business number to buy deadstock wool wholesale? No for retail counters, markets and thrift shops. Some mills and closeout warehouses ask for a business number before they sell at trade prices. Registering is straightforward, and the Canada Revenue Agency handles the tax side.
What is a realistic minimum order? Our Social Fabric and Fabcycle sell by the pound, with one pound as the floor. Dressew, Affordable Textiles and King Textiles cut from one metre. Thrift shops sell single garments. Always ask, because the answer changes with stock.
How do I check that a wool lot is really wool? Ask for the fibre content first. If there is no label, burn-test a small offcut. Wool smells of burnt hair and leaves a crumbly ash, while polyester melts into a hard bead. Blends sit between the two.
Can I ship deadstock wool between Vancouver and Toronto cheaply? Rarely cheaply, because wool is dense. Canada Post or a courier will quote by weight and distance. For a few metres, pickup or a shared order is usually better value than shipping.
Are there repair events where I can source wool locally? Yes. Repair Café Canada runs events in both cities, and Vancouver and Toronto both have active repair and sustainable fashion networks. Volunteers often share or sell surplus wool at these events.
What about textile waste rules and funding? Environment and Climate Change Canada works on textile waste reduction, and Toronto runs municipal diversion programmes. Provincial consumer protection acts cover repair service contracts if you sell mending work, and the Competition Bureau Canada handles consumer protection complaints.
