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Wood Fibers

American Excelsior supplies excelsior wood fiber products to diverse markets for a wide variety of applications.

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Wood Fibers Overview

From baled excelsior to aspen animal bedding to evaporative cooler pads, wood excelsior products have an almost endless list of applications. We offer more than 50 different cuts of excelsior fibers to meet even the most specialized applications.

We invite you to browse our wood fiber site to learn more about our products and contact us at sales@americanexcelsior.com with any questions or call 866-934-2377 (Toll-Free). Our Customer Care personnel will work with you to select the excelsior product best suited for your needs.

We use Great Lakes, all-natural Aspen, as a wood source for all of our wood excelsior products. We purchase Aspen only from forest products companies that are members of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative program. This ensures that our vendors are following the best environmental and forestry management practices. We are proud of our environmental stewardship commitment.

Excelsior Fibers

Natural excelsior boxed excelsior and baled excelsior are offered for use in specialized packaging for retail outlets. Excelsior is easy to work with, safe, and 100% biodegradable. It is a favorite when used in wreaths, garlands, and fruit and gift boxes or baskets. Excelsior fibers may be shaped, sized, glued, molded, matted, or woven to fit numerous decorative applications.

Animal Bedding

Aspen Bed™ is a premium small animal contact bedding product that is used by many leading laboratories, science centers, reptile and breeding farms, and pet centers. It provides superior nesting for small animals who like to burrow or nest. Aspen Bed is odorless, virtually dust-free, and highly absorbent, which provides animals with a healthier environment. Aspen Bed is not a manufacturing by-product; rather, it is made from all-natural aspen specifically for use as contact bedding material. In addition, our excelsior poultry and nest pads have been used for many decades by leading poultry and egg producers.

Filtration

Wood excelsior fibers are also widely used as a filtration medium, ranging from filtering oil in combustion engines to oil field filtering and vinegar filtration. The interlocking, barbing features of the fibers, combined with low moisture content from air curing, results in highly absorbent fibers capable of filtering without any artificial additives. In the construction industry, excelsior is frequently used in tunneling and pipe installations to fill void areas.

Packaging

In the packaging industry, wood excelsior is an ideal product to protect and cushion larger, heavier, or more irregularly shaped products (e.g. heavy parts or statuary products). The unique, curled excelsior fibers have a barbing feature that enables the fibers to interlock and provide excellent packing and packaged cushioning capabilities not found with other types of packaging materials. Furthermore, excelsior is biodegradable making it an environmentally safe product. For protecting smaller and lighter fragile products, such as china, glassware, and pottery products, our Curlex® packaging pads feature excelsior fibers encapsulated in the paper for natural cushioning.

Other applications for wood excelsior fiber products include, among other things, use in ceiling boards, taxidermy, burn blocks at fire training schools, concrete extenders, oil booms, pipeline padding, and snake bedding.

Products

  • Aspen Bed Small Animal Bedding
  • Baled Excelsior
  • BarnSorb® Cattle Bedding
  • Curlex Packaging Pads
  • Evaporative Cooling Pads
  • Excelsior Poultry Pads
  • Power-Stop Archery Targets
  • Premium Horse Bedding

Applications

Specialty Uses

Evaporative Cooling

Evaporative Cooling Pads

Evaporative cooling is an efficient and cost effective way to cool homes and businesses in hot and dry parts of the world. For over 50 years, American Excelsior has been the industry leader in the manufacturing and sales of cooler pads. Our Curlex® excelsior cooler pads are made from the cleanest, toughest, and most consistent all natural aspen wood fibers available, for superior cooling performance.

Unique Curlex® cut fibers enable the fibers to interlock to help prevent sagging for a truly superior cooler pad. Even fiber distribution throughout the pad and around the edges of the pads helps to provide maximum cooling efficiency. Curlex® cooler pads are packaged individually, on the roll, or in bulk compressed pads in a wide variety of standard sizes. Custom bulk or individually packaged size pads can also be ordered. Individually packaged pads are also ideal for sales through retail establishments.

Evaporative coolers work because the natural fibers of a cooler’s excelsior pads retain moisture and swell when saturated with water. When the draft-fan of an evaporative cooler pulls the hot and dry air through the fibers, it cools the air instantly and also increases the humidity in the interior of the house or business. This provides natural air conditioning for a steady supply of cool, fresh air.

Curlex cooler pads are pre-sized for quick and easy installation. All pads are machine made to ensure uniformity and proper fit. Over 50 years experience and expertise goes into every pad. Compressed bundling of the pads saves on space and also enables easier stacking. We sell our cooler pads to both domestic and international markets.

For more information, we invite you to contact us at sales@americanexcelsior.com or feel free to call us at our toll free number, 866-934-2377.

Curlex® Power-Stop® Targets

For more information, view Power-Stop’s page here.

Packaging

Baled Excelsior

Download Printable Brochure

Baled excelsior is an all-natural aspen fiber product manufactured from Great Lakes aspen. The unique curled fibers with barbed edges give the fibers an interlocking feature that provides uses in many markets and for diverse applications. Excelsior fibers are widely used in construction, filtration, evaporative cooling, casket bedding, packaging, cushioning, display, archery target butts, crafts, and many other applications.

The name excelsior originated in America and excelsior has been manufactured in the United States for over a century. Excelsior consists of thin, narrow, curled strands of Great Lakes Aspen which have barbed edges that provide an interlocking feature. In the United States, excelsior has no other general name; however, in many other countries, excelsior is commonly known and referred to as wood wool.

Another property of excelsior of great importance is its resiliency, which is the ability to readily expand after compression. The combination of resiliency and the interlocking feature of the fibers makes excelsior highly suitable for many diverse applications.

Baled excelsior fibers are available in over 50 different cut dimensions to meet even the most specialized requirements. Baled excelsior is available in both 75 pound and 55 pound* pony bales in compressed bale form. Special length bales can also be custom ordered. In addition to being an all-natural product, excelsior fibers are 100% biodegradable, safe, and easy to work with.

Purchase aspen from only forest products companies who are members of Sustainable Forestry programs to ensure that the best environmental and forestry management practices are followed. Aspen is a renewable resource and we take great pride in our environmental stewardship.

*weight is based on a dry fiber weight basis at the time of manufacture. The baseline moisture content of Great Lakes Aspen excelsior is 22%.

 

Call us today at our toll-free number, 866-934-2377, or contact us at sales@americanexcelsior.com.

Excelsior Fibers

American Excelsior supplies excelsior wood fiber products to diverse markets for a wide variety of applications. From baled excelsior to aspen animal bedding to evaporative cooler pads, wood excelsior products have an almost endless list of applications. We offer more than 50 different cuts of excelsior fibers to meet even the most specialized applications.

We use Great Lakes, all-natural Aspen, as a wood source for all of our wood excelsior products. We purchase Aspen only from forest products companies that are members of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative program. This ensures that our vendors are following the best environmental and forestry management practices. We are proud of our environmental stewardship commitment.

Natural excelsior boxed excelsior and baled excelsior are offered for use in specialized packaging for retail outlets. Excelsior is easy to work with, safe, and 100% biodegradable. It is a favorite when used in wreaths, garlands, and fruit and gift boxes or baskets. Excelsior fibers may be shaped, sized, glued, molded, matted, or woven to fit numerous decorative applications.

In the packaging industry, wood excelsior is an ideal product to protect and cushion larger, heavier, or more irregularly shaped products (e.g. heavy parts or statuary products). The unique, curled excelsior fibers have a barbing feature that enables the fibers to interlock and provide excellent packing and packaged cushioning capabilities not found with other types of packaging materials. Furthermore, excelsior is biodegradable making it an environmentally safe product. For protecting smaller and lighter fragile products, such as china, glassware, and pottery products, our Curlex® packaging pads feature excelsior fibers encapsulated in the paper for natural cushioning.

Wood excelsior fibers are also widely used as a filtration medium, ranging from filtering oil in combustion engines to oil field filtering and vinegar filtration. The interlocking, barbing features of the fibers, combined with low moisture content from air curing, results in highly absorbent fibers capable of filtering without any artificial additives. In the construction industry, excelsior is frequently used in tunneling and pipe installations to fill void areas.

Other applications for wood excelsior fiber products include, among other things, use in ceiling boards, taxidermy, burn blocks at fire training schools, concrete extenders, oil booms, pipeline padding, and snake bedding.

We invite you to browse our wood fiber site to learn more about our products and contact us at sales@americanexcelsior.com with any questions or call 866-934-2377 (Toll-Free). Our Customer Care personnel will work with you to select the excelsior product best suited for your needs.

Bedding

Aspen Bed

American Excelsior’s Aspen Bed is manufactured from all natural Aspen wood for use as a contact bedding for small animals such as mice, rats, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, and snakes.

Aspen Bed isn’t a by-product of some other manufacturing process. It is manufactured from pure Aspen wood, specifically for use as a contact bedding material.

Aspen Bed was preferred 2 to 1 over Cedar shavings

In actual laboratory tests, a variety of small animals were given a free choice in a selection of bedding materials. The test results were clear — these animals preferred Aspen Bed 2 to 1 over cedar shavings and as much as 20 to 1 over bedding made from by-products and other wood materials.

Why do animals prefer Aspen Bed?

There are many good reasons. Aspen Bed is amazingly soft and clean – a material that actually encourages nesting. Manufactured from all natural Aspen wood particles, Aspen Bed is the most natural bedding material available. And, because it’s odorless, dustless, and highly absorbent, it provides animals with a healthy environment. In addition, Aspen Bed is both non-toxic and non-allergenic.

Aspen Bed is produced from aged wood in a “fractured fiber,” which provides high absorption properties not found in most beddings. The proof is in your own application.

Call us today at our toll free number, 866-934-2377 or contact us at sales@americanexcelsior.com.

Premium Horse Bedding

Download Printable Brochure

Premium Horse Bedding is an all natural bedding material manufactured from Great Lakes Aspen fibers. It is an economical, durable, highly absorbent, non-allergenic, and non-toxic contact bedding material that helps provide a cleaner environment for horses. The product is multi-screened to minimize dust. Premium Horse Bedding helps reduce odors and provides more absorbency than some other types of traditional wood chip bedding materials.

The product is manufactured specifically as bedding material and is not manufactured from wood by-products. Premium Horse Bedding can be fluffed to increase stall filling capacity after the bags are opened. Premium Horse Bedding is packaged in 45 lb compressed brown Kraft paper bags that provide stacking, handling, and storage benefits. The product is palletized with 45 bags per pallet and is available in less than truckload or truckload quantities.

 

Call us today at our toll free number, 866-934-2377 or contact us at sales@americanexcelsior.com.

Excelsior Pads

Excelsior Package Pads

Download Printable Brochure

In today’s world, it is almost impossible to satisfy the environmental needs of a packaging product and still provide the protection you need to assure that your shipment arrives undamaged. Curlex® Excelsior Package Pads manufactured by American Excelsior Company may be the answer you’ve been looking for.

Curlex pads contain 100% all natural Aspen excelsior wood fibers, which are manufactured from renewable Aspen trees, and due to a special cutting process, each fiber contains small “barbs” to help the fiber interlock with each other, to provide a uniform pad. In addition, excelsior fibers are very resilient and can help protect products from vibration and handling during shipment or simply act as an “all natural” void-filler for your carton.

To help reduce the transportation costs to your location, the pads are shipped in compressed bundles. All you’ll need to do is release the banding wrap and give each pad a quick “refreshing snap” and you are ready to give your package 100% environmental protection.

Standard Stock Sizes*
14″ x 24″
14″ x 36″
24″ x 24″

*Sizes based on actual overall paper size of pad. Check with local office to make sure your product selection meets the needs of your application.

If your products require added protection or may need a special size, Curlex Packaging Pads can also be made in a wide variety of thicknesses and sizes. In addition to providing excellent cushioning qualities, excelsior package pads are economical to use. The excelsior fibers are also 100% biodegradable. Please feel free to contact us at sales@americanexcelsior.com or call our toll free number, 866-934-2377. Our Customer Care personnel will work with you to help select the proper size package pad for your application.

Excelsior Casket Pads

Excelsior casket pads are manufactured from all natural Great Lakes aspen excelsior fibers that are fully encased in white scrim tissue paper. As certain religious faiths require that both the casket and everything used internally be natural materials, excelsior casket pads are an ideal casket bedding material to use.

Our highly innovative half length excelsior pad design offers a host of benefits for both the casket manufacturer and the end user, the funeral director. Excelsior casket pads placed end to end in several layers form a consistent, very professional looking casket mattress, and they offer great versatility.

As the excelsior fibers are totally encased in the scrim paper, excelsior casket pads are very neat and clean in appearance. There is no mess or re-arranging that is frequently needed with loose bulk materials. They can be quickly and easily placed in the casket during the production process. This helps to save time. They also provide a clean work environment during installation and help to give a finished, dignified appearance to the interior of any casket. The funeral director can easily rearrange the excelsior casket pads to meet specific requirements or even save extra pads for future use.

Excelsior casket pads are available in several standard sizes. They can also be custom ordered in a wide variety of other lengths and widths. We invite you to contact us at sales@americanexcelsior.com or feel free to call our toll free number, 866-934-2377.

 

Excelsior Poultry Pads

Excelsior poultry pads are manufactured from Great Lakes aspen excelsior fibers and brown craft paper. They are available in several different configurations and in a variety of sizes. Leading hatcheries have used our excelsior poultry pads for many years.

Excelsior box pads help to provide stable footing for newly hatched chick and poults. They greatly help to eliminate sprawl leg, which reduces the number of lost poults and chicks.

Excelsior nest pads help to provide cleaner, fresher, better quality and more hatch-able eggs. They are economical, easy to place in the laying nests and help in faster egg gathering. The eggs are on top, clean and fresh rather than having to hunt and dig for eggs as with some other products. They also draw moisture from droppings which drop to the paper below, out of the area in which the eggs are laid.

Turkey hatching tray pads provide cushioning for newly hatched chicks and poults and help to provide stable footing. They also help to keep new hatched chicks and poults clean.

Each type of excelsior poultry pad can be custom ordered in a wide variety of different lengths and widths to fit special requirements. The excelsior fibers are 100% biodegradable. We invite you to contact us at sales@americanexcelsior.com. Feel free to also call us at our toll free number, 866-934-2377. Our Customer Care personnel will work with you to help you select the specific excelsior poultry pad best suited for your application.

Resources

FAQs

What is excelsior?

Excelsior consists of thin, curled strands of premium-grade all-natural Great Lakes Aspen which have small barbed edges that provide an interlocking feature. Excelsior is highly resilient, which is the ability to readily expand after compression, and is also biodegradable. In the United States, excelsior has no other general name. However, in many other countries, excelsior is commonly known and referred to as wood wool. The combination of resiliency and the interlocking features of the excelsior fibers make excelsior highly suitable for many diverse applications as described on our website.

How is excelsior produced?

Excelsior is cut from logs by using a unique process where the actual thickness of the fiber, as well as the width, can be cut on high-speed equipment at the same time. The process is so unique, we can actually control the width and the thickness down to thousands of an inch. We manufacture excelsior in a compressed bale, rolls, pad, and other forms before being shipped around the world and we currently manufacture excelsior fibers on over 50 different width and thickness combinations to help meet even the most specialized requirements.

Is excelsior environmentally friendly?

Definitely yes! The excelsior fibers consist of all-natural premium-grade Great Lakes Aspen wood fibers which are naturally biodegradable.

Why is baled excelsior so effective when used in archery targets?

Excelsior bales are highly compressed and the interlocking fibers provide superior stopping power, even for penetrating carbon arrows. Curlex® Power-StopTM excelsior banded target bales can be used both outdoors and indoors and are ideal for use in commercial and club ranges as well as backyard use.

Technical Support

Contact

We believe in personal and professional attention to our customers and that is why during business hours, we have intelligent, enthusiastic, living human beings answering the phone.  If you tell them what you want, they will either provide you with the information you need or will direct you to someone who can.

Wood Fibers Sales Representatives

Phone: 1-888-352-9582
Fax: 1-888-352-9585

Greg Johnson: Division Director — 715.392.0688 — Nationwide
Marv Price: 801.391.7314 — WA, OR, CA, ID, NV, MT, WY, UT, CO, AZ, NM
Stuart Sheppard: 256.206.1673 — KS, OK, TX, MO, AR, LA, KY, TN, MS, AL, GA, FL, NC, SC, VA, WV, PA, MD, DE, RI, NY, NJ, CT, VT, MA, NH, ME
Adam Sadowski: 715.236.5658 — ND, SD, NE, ME, IA, WI, IL, IN, MI, OH

 

Need more information?

For immediate assistance call us at 800-777-7645 or send us a message.

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