Heresy! Damned Heresy! On washing woolens

A stack of mittens were on the drying rack for my ski buddies, so time to
get on with the next gansey.

It is a stitch pattern that I have messed up before, so there was a practice
swatch. The yarn I used for practice is an oiled Canadian yarn that has been
spun just the same way since the days of wooden ships and iron men. And I
tell you, that it takes an "iron man" to wear a gansey knit from this yarn,
but that a gansey knit from this yarn will keep an "iron man" bright and
shiny even when he is being drenched with salt spray. This is not a luxury
yarn.

This yarn was not going to be helped by washing it in shampoo, so I just
took it into the laundry room and washed it with "all fabric laundry
detergent with bleach and brighteners", and blocked it.

This is an inexpensive yarn, and I have a lot of swatches knit out of it.
Some were washed in shampoo, many were washed in Kookaburra wool wash, some
were washed with hand soap. So, when I look at the most recent practice
swatch in comparison to those other swatches this morning, it is the
whitest. Obviously, it is the cleanest. It also seems to be the softest of
the swatches knit from this yarn. Maybe some of the scratchiness of this
yarn is just dirt? It is still not a luxury yarn, but after being washed in
laundry detergent, it seems soft enough to be worn by say, "a wooden man."

Aaron

On Tue, 17 Apr 2007 16:14:50 GMT, wrote:


This yarn was not going to be helped by washing it in shampoo, so I just
took it into the laundry room and washed it with "all fabric laundry
detergent with bleach and brighteners", and blocked it.

Shampoo, laundry "soap", toothpaste, etc: it's all sodium laurel
sulfate. The bleach/brightener in all-color fabric detergent is
usually some oxygen-based product like OxyClean(tm) and not an actual
chlorine bleach, so no harm and no foul WRT damage to the fibers

I've only knitted one item that pretends to be anything except dyed:
it's natural white wool, a sweater for the spawn. He outgrew it
several years ago, so I washed it with a little Clorox2 and then
stashed it in the cedar chest. After two winters of hard wear it'll
never be clean again...

wrote:
A stack of mittens were on the drying rack for my ski buddies, so time to
get on with the next gansey.

It is a stitch pattern that I have messed up before, so there was a practice
swatch. The yarn I used for practice is an oiled Canadian yarn that has been
spun just the same way since the days of wooden ships and iron men. And I
tell you, that it takes an "iron man" to wear a gansey knit from this yarn,
but that a gansey knit from this yarn will keep an "iron man" bright and
shiny even when he is being drenched with salt spray. This is not a luxury
yarn.

This yarn was not going to be helped by washing it in shampoo, so I just
took it into the laundry room and washed it with "all fabric laundry
detergent with bleach and brighteners", and blocked it.

This is an inexpensive yarn, and I have a lot of swatches knit out of it.
Some were washed in shampoo, many were washed in Kookaburra wool wash, some
were washed with hand soap. So, when I look at the most recent practice
swatch in comparison to those other swatches this morning, it is the
whitest. Obviously, it is the cleanest. It also seems to be the softest of
the swatches knit from this yarn. Maybe some of the scratchiness of this
yarn is just dirt? It is still not a luxury yarn, but after being washed in
laundry detergent, it seems soft enough to be worn by say, "a wooden man."

Aaron



What comes after the wooden man Aaron?
Laughing out loud,
Dennis

The label does not say what it in the laundry detergent, except ionic and
anionic surfactants. So it has more than just sodium laurel sulfate
CH3(CH2)11OSO3Na as a wetting agent; likely also poly(sodium styrene
sulfonate) (PSS) and other stuff. My guess is the laundry detergent also has
some borates, some carbonates, and maybe some nitroacetic acid. The bleach
part is likely a small amount of sodium perborate with a magnesium catalyst
to produce H2O2 in the presence of water. It is not shampoo. I would not
encourage anyone to brush their teeth with it. I would hesitate to put a
luxury yarn in it.

My hand soap, is just that! It is a good hard milled soap, so I can also use
it for shaving. I could brush my teeth with it in an emergency, That would
not be fun, but it would be safe and effective.

I would rather brush my teeth with my hand soap, than with the wool wash.
Who knows what is in it?.

On the way back to the car from skiing, I took a "shortcut" and ended up on
the snow bank where oil and black grime from the parking lot had been
collecting all winter. My new gansey was soiled. "Simple Green" took MOST
of it out. Maybe it really needs a trip through the washer with some
LAUNDRY DETERGENT.

Aaron

"WoolyGooly" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 17 Apr 2007 16:14:50 GMT, wrote:


This yarn was not going to be helped by washing it in shampoo, so I just
took it into the laundry room and washed it with "all fabric laundry
detergent with bleach and brighteners", and blocked it.

Shampoo, laundry "soap", toothpaste, etc: it's all . The
bleach/brightener in all-color fabric detergent is
usually some oxygen-based product like OxyClean(tm) and not an actual
chlorine bleach, so no harm and no foul WRT damage to the fibers

I've only knitted one item that pretends to be anything except dyed:
it's natural white wool, a sweater for the spawn. He outgrew it
several years ago, so I washed it with a little Clorox2 and then
stashed it in the cedar chest. After two winters of hard wear it'll
never be clean again...

Iron Man
Wooden Man
Hard Man - i.e, rock climbing bum from the 1970's - now extinct
US Marine serving in Iraq
Weather man (thick skin because of so many complaints about the weather)


A
"Spike Driver" wrote in message
...
wrote:
snip
What comes after the wooden man Aaron?
Laughing out loud,
Dennis

wrote:
Iron Man
Wooden Man
Hard Man - i.e, rock climbing bum from the 1970's - now extinct
US Marine serving in Iraq
Weather man (thick skin because of so many complaints about the weather)


A
"Spike Driver" wrote in message
...

wrote:

snip

What comes after the wooden man Aaron?
Laughing out loud,
Dennis



Good very Good!!!

Dennis

On Apr 17, 1:14 pm, wrote:
A stack of mittens were on the drying rack for my ski buddies, so time to
get on with the next gansey.

It is a stitch pattern that I have messed up before, so there was a practice
swatch. The yarn I used for practice is an oiled Canadian yarn that has been
spun just the same way since the days of wooden ships and iron men. And I
tell you, that it takes an "iron man" to wear a gansey knit from this yarn,
but that a gansey knit from this yarn will keep an "iron man" bright and
shiny even when he is being drenched with salt spray. This is not a luxury
yarn.

This yarn was not going to be helped by washing it in shampoo, so I just
took it into the laundry room and washed it with "all fabric laundry
detergent with bleach and brighteners", and blocked it.

This is an inexpensive yarn, and I have a lot of swatches knit out of it.
Some were washed in shampoo, many were washed in Kookaburra wool wash, some
were washed with hand soap. So, when I look at the most recent practice
swatch in comparison to those other swatches this morning, it is the
whitest. Obviously, it is the cleanest. It also seems to be the softest of
the swatches knit from this yarn. Maybe some of the scratchiness of this
yarn is just dirt? It is still not a luxury yarn, but after being washed in
laundry detergent, it seems soft enough to be worn by say, "a wooden man."


I want to know: What was the brand of this yarn? And what was the
detergent?

Higs,
Katherine

on wool , cotton etc ,,, everytime i would preffer hair shampoos but
in a case like your fall ,,,, Dishwasher Fluids or cream ,,, Never
Laundry Detergent ,,,, My 50 +++ years of washing ,,,
mirjam

The label does not say what it in the laundry detergent, except ionic and
anionic surfactants. So it has more than just sodium laurel sulfate
CH3(CH2)11OSO3Na as a wetting agent; likely also poly(sodium styrene
sulfonate) (PSS) and other stuff. My guess is the laundry detergent also has
some borates, some carbonates, and maybe some nitroacetic acid. The bleach
part is likely a small amount of sodium perborate with a magnesium catalyst
to produce H2O2 in the presence of water. It is not shampoo. I would not
encourage anyone to brush their teeth with it. I would hesitate to put a
luxury yarn in it.

My hand soap, is just that! It is a good hard milled soap, so I can also use
it for shaving. I could brush my teeth with it in an emergency, That would
not be fun, but it would be safe and effective.

I would rather brush my teeth with my hand soap, than with the wool wash.
Who knows what is in it?.

On the way back to the car from skiing, I took a "shortcut" and ended up on
the snow bank where oil and black grime from the parking lot had been
collecting all winter. My new gansey was soiled. "Simple Green" took MOST
of it out. Maybe it really needs a trip through the washer with some
LAUNDRY DETERGENT.

Aaron

"WoolyGooly" wrote in message
.. .
On Tue, 17 Apr 2007 16:14:50 GMT, wrote:


This yarn was not going to be helped by washing it in shampoo, so I just
took it into the laundry room and washed it with "all fabric laundry
detergent with bleach and brighteners", and blocked it.

Shampoo, laundry "soap", toothpaste, etc: it's all . The
bleach/brightener in all-color fabric detergent is
usually some oxygen-based product like OxyClean(tm) and not an actual
chlorine bleach, so no harm and no foul WRT damage to the fibers

I've only knitted one item that pretends to be anything except dyed:
it's natural white wool, a sweater for the spawn. He outgrew it
several years ago, so I washed it with a little Clorox2 and then
stashed it in the cedar chest. After two winters of hard wear it'll
never be clean again...

It was Cottage Craft yarn from St. Andrews, New Brunswick. It is an oiled,
tightly spun yarn that is just under worsted weight (242 yd/113 g).
Wonderfull, Wonderfull colors, hard wearing - excellent stitch definition -
but a bit scratchy, bit of veggie material - very reasonably priced

The detergent was the Purcell powder for low water use washers.

Last nigh, the white Cornish Gansey knit out of Lion's Brand Fisherman's
wool got washed in the same stuff, in preparation for dying blue. It seems
to have come out OK.

(My theory is that a blue gansey will dry somewhat faster than a white one
given any available sunlight) I have now spent some time in the rain in my
white gansey, and it is time to try the same fabric in a darker color that
will absorb more sunlight. At this point, I have little expectation of a
perceptible difference, because as a white gansey, it was warm and
comfortable in the rain, even when the spruce green "fisherman's sweater"
knit by Cottage Craft was cold and wet in a matter of minutes. (Yes! A loose
knit wool sweater in a hard, cold rain is cold! A tight knit wool sweater
in the same cold rain is perfectly warm. The loose knit sweater weights 100
g more, and is not as warm.) And, the looser knit fabric stayed wet longer
while being worn. That is: the tighter knit fabrics dried faster while
being worn after the rain stopped, the looser knit fabrics dried faster on
the drying rack.

Aaron


"Katherine" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Apr 17, 1:14 pm, wrote:
snip This is an inexpensive yarn, and I have a lot of swatches knit
out of it.
Some were washed in shampoo, many were washed in Kookaburra wool wash,
some
were washed with hand soap. So, when I look at the most recent practice
swatch in comparison to those other swatches this morning, it is the
whitest. Obviously, it is the cleanest. It also seems to be the
softest of
the swatches knit from this yarn. Maybe some of the scratchiness of
this
yarn is just dirt? It is still not a luxury yarn, but after being
washed in
laundry detergent, it seems soft enough to be worn by say, "a wooden
man."


I want to know: What was the brand of this yarn? And what was the
detergent?

Higs,
Katherine

Like I said, "Not for luxury yarns!" But, extreme events call for extreme
measures.

A
"Mirjam Bruck-Cohen" wrote in message
...
on wool , cotton etc ,,, everytime i would preffer hair shampoos but
in a case like your fall ,,,, Dishwasher Fluids or cream ,,, Never
Laundry Detergent ,,,, My 50 +++ years of washing ,,,
mirjam

The label does not say what it in the laundry detergent, except ionic and
anionic surfactants. So it has more than just sodium laurel sulfate
CH3(CH2)11OSO3Na as a wetting agent; likely also poly(sodium styrene
sulfonate) (PSS) and other stuff. My guess is the laundry detergent also
has
some borates, some carbonates, and maybe some nitroacetic acid. The
bleach
part is likely a small amount of sodium perborate with a magnesium
catalyst
to produce H2O2 in the presence of water. It is not shampoo. I would
not
encourage anyone to brush their teeth with it. I would hesitate to put a
luxury yarn in it.

My hand soap, is just that! It is a good hard milled soap, so I can also
use
it for shaving. I could brush my teeth with it in an emergency, That
would
not be fun, but it would be safe and effective.

I would rather brush my teeth with my hand soap, than with the wool wash.
Who knows what is in it?.

On the way back to the car from skiing, I took a "shortcut" and ended up
on
the snow bank where oil and black grime from the parking lot had been
collecting all winter. My new gansey was soiled. "Simple Green" took
MOST
of it out. Maybe it really needs a trip through the washer with some
LAUNDRY DETERGENT.

Aaron

"WoolyGooly" wrote in message
.. .
On Tue, 17 Apr 2007 16:14:50 GMT, wrote:


This yarn was not going to be helped by washing it in shampoo, so I
just
took it into the laundry room and washed it with "all fabric laundry
detergent with bleach and brighteners", and blocked it.

Shampoo, laundry "soap", toothpaste, etc: it's all . The
bleach/brightener in all-color fabric detergent is
usually some oxygen-based product like OxyClean(tm) and not an actual
chlorine bleach, so no harm and no foul WRT damage to the fibers

I've only knitted one item that pretends to be anything except dyed:
it's natural white wool, a sweater for the spawn. He outgrew it
several years ago, so I washed it with a little Clorox2 and then
stashed it in the cedar chest. After two winters of hard wear it'll
never be clean again...