I’ll take a crack at answering your question, but I’m sure there are others on this forum that will answer it better…
Not to sound like a “natural” fiber snob, but wool does have it’s benefits over acrylic. I used to use only acrylic for a looooooooooooong time. I find that some acrylics are scratchy (the exception is the baby yarn in acrylic, but then you are pretty much limited to pastelly colors) and not as pleasing to the touch as “natural” fibers. Yes, acrylic is washable and that makes it great for people who don’t want to handwash their garments. With natural fibers, you can get yarn that’s incredibly soft. Merino wool and alpaca are two of my favorites. I use the regular cheaper wool for felted items and it works great! Some of the “cheaper” wool will pill and not wear right on a garment, but if you are unsure, most of the time someone here will have used the yarn before and can tell/warn you! 
Of course, if you are allergic to wool or other natural fibers, then acrylic is the way to go, but for the most part, I’ve found that once you’ve worked with the better natural yarns, you’ll never want to touch acrylic again, unless you are making a baby item and you need it to washable.
Really, I’m not a natural fiber snob… In fact I’d never worked with natural yarn until recently, but I’ll never go back!