Washing wools

How do you all wash your wools?

I wash EVERYTHING before putting it together and when I'm finished -- even
though I wash my hands before I pick up my knitting, it's amazing how much
dirt / oil comes out of them when they're washed. I have always
handwashed -- soaked in Woolite, rolled it in a towel, pin it out and let it
air dry. With something really large, it's a bit cumbersome.

I just read something in one of Sally Melville's book on how she washes them
in a washing machine. She fills it with water and a little soap, turns the
machine off and lets it soak. Which makes sense and is a lot more
convenient than the bathroom sink. But -- she doesn't rinse -- and she
turns the machine on to a final spin.

I thought those were two big no-no's -- in the first place, if you don't
rinse, don't you leave soap in there (which is harmful to fabric and
actually attracts dirt)? Secondly, I was under the impression that you
NEVER let a woolen item go through a spin cycle, that it was equivalent to
agitating, and might felt it.

Wondering how everyone else does it.

Karen in MN

First off, PLEASE don't use Woolite on real wool! Despite the name, it's not
designed for wools, but for synthetic fibers, and it can make wool harsh.

I treat my sweaters the same way I treat my spinning fibers.

Fill the washer with enough water to cover the item (I wash fiber in fine
mesh garment bags, sweaters on their own). I use warm, not hot, water. As
the basket is filling, I add 1/8 cup (coffee scoop size) of Dawn dish soap
and swoosh it around by hand to mix. Gently submerge the sweater or fiber,
with as little motion as possible. Let it soak for about 30 min. Drain the
basket, then run on spin cycle for a few minutes to get out max water (this
won't hurt, since the agitation is minimal). Refill with clean water, soak
10-15 min, dunking gently to make water move, then repeat drain and spin. I
rinse twice. At the end of the second rinse I add a half-capful (half as
much as Dawn) of Suave hair conditioner. (Any cheap, mild conditioner will
do.) Then rinse and dry flat. I also use the sweater drying rack in my
clothes dryer, with the dryer set to Air Dry.

Karen in AZ

On Mon, 5 Jan 2004 09:51:05 -0600, Karen in MN wrote:

How do you all wash your wools?

I wash EVERYTHING before putting it together and when I'm finished -- even
though I wash my hands before I pick up my knitting, it's amazing how much
dirt / oil comes out of them when they're washed. I have always
handwashed -- soaked in Woolite, rolled it in a towel, pin it out and let it
air dry. With something really large, it's a bit cumbersome.

I just read something in one of Sally Melville's book on how she washes them
in a washing machine. She fills it with water and a little soap, turns the
machine off and lets it soak. Which makes sense and is a lot more
convenient than the bathroom sink. But -- she doesn't rinse -- and she
turns the machine on to a final spin.

I thought those were two big no-no's -- in the first place, if you don't
rinse, don't you leave soap in there (which is harmful to fabric and
actually attracts dirt)? Secondly, I was under the impression that you
NEVER let a woolen item go through a spin cycle, that it was equivalent to
agitating, and might felt it.

Wondering how everyone else does it.

Karen in MN

Hi Karen!
First, I never use Woolite, at least not on wool... I do use it for
acrylics. I use the washer, and use WARM water, and Ivory Flakes, about a
coffee scoop.
I let it soak 15 minutes to 30... then I DO let it spin-out, on the
machine's GENTLE spin.
When I refill to rinse, I take the item out, so that the water isn't
running dirctly on it too.
MY machine has a warm rinse, and I USE it.
I put 1/2 coffee scoop of vinegar in the rinse to cut soap and oils.
I use the dryer, on no heat setting, tumble air.
HTH,
Noreen
who has luckily had three new washer/dryer sets this past year, as we put
them in every house we buy and sell them with the house, and I'm VERY picky
about their features... won't buy one if it doesn't have warm rinse
option..

--
Noreen's Knit*che
(Knitting, Crocheting, Tatting, Bobbin-Lace and Spinning are my NICHE in
life..)
NATA #447 Member TKGA Member TCGA
... soon joining MTFG and IOLI...

One comment here - I'm guessing we're all talking about a top loader
here - I too use my washer to at least spin out. I don't like front
loaders for lots of reasons including the one where most won't let you
in once the wash is started (well it *would* be a wee bit messy) plus I
wouldn't use one to spin out - I'm afraid of the agitation from start-up
and spin-down.

Anyone with a front loader?????

Sonya


Karen_AZ wrote:
First off, PLEASE don't use Woolite on real wool! Despite the name, it's not
designed for wools, but for synthetic fibers, and it can make wool harsh.

I treat my sweaters the same way I treat my spinning fibers.

Fill the washer with enough water to cover the item (I wash fiber in fine
mesh garment bags, sweaters on their own). I use warm, not hot, water. As
the basket is filling, I add 1/8 cup (coffee scoop size) of Dawn dish soap
and swoosh it around by hand to mix. Gently submerge the sweater or fiber,
with as little motion as possible. Let it soak for about 30 min. Drain the
basket, then run on spin cycle for a few minutes to get out max water (this
won't hurt, since the agitation is minimal). Refill with clean water, soak
10-15 min, dunking gently to make water move, then repeat drain and spin. I
rinse twice. At the end of the second rinse I add a half-capful (half as
much as Dawn) of Suave hair conditioner. (Any cheap, mild conditioner will
do.) Then rinse and dry flat. I also use the sweater drying rack in my
clothes dryer, with the dryer set to Air Dry.

Karen in AZ

I scour wool, yarn, and finished goods in the washer. Fill the tub
with hot water, turn off the machine, dissolve some detergent, poke in
the item(s) and walk away for a while. Flip over to the spin cycle,
remove the item(s), refill with hot water, poke in the item(s) and
walk away again.

No agitation involved.

On Mon, 5 Jan 2004 09:51:05 -0600, "Karen in MN"
ask.me.for.my.email.address wrote:


How do you all wash your wools?

I wash EVERYTHING before putting it together and when I'm finished -- even
though I wash my hands before I pick up my knitting, it's amazing how much
dirt / oil comes out of them when they're washed. I have always
handwashed -- soaked in Woolite, rolled it in a towel, pin it out and let it
air dry. With something really large, it's a bit cumbersome.

I just read something in one of Sally Melville's book on how she washes them
in a washing machine. She fills it with water and a little soap, turns the
machine off and lets it soak. Which makes sense and is a lot more
convenient than the bathroom sink. But -- she doesn't rinse -- and she
turns the machine on to a final spin.

I thought those were two big no-no's -- in the first place, if you don't
rinse, don't you leave soap in there (which is harmful to fabric and
actually attracts dirt)? Secondly, I was under the impression that you
NEVER let a woolen item go through a spin cycle, that it was equivalent to
agitating, and might felt it.

Wondering how everyone else does it.

Karen in MN

On Mon, 5 Jan 2004 11:48:55 -0600, Karen in MN wrote:

Thanks to ALL who warned me about the Woolite!

Why in the world do they call it Woolite????

Karen,
I'm not *sure*, but I *think* Woolite came out in the early 60's about the
same time as acrylic yarns getting popular. Many people still refer to
*any* yarn as wool, IE, read instructions from UK or Canada, etc. where
ours say WRB - wrap yarn back - theirs still say WWB - wrap wool back --
anyway, my point, and I do have one (grin)...
is that they named it Woolite because of people thinking of yarn as wool,
and they could wash their new-style, IE acrylic's with the stuff.
JMHO,
Noreen
--
Noreen's Knit*che
(Knitting, Crocheting, Tatting, Bobbin-Lace and Spinning are my NICHE in
life..)
NATA #447 Member TKGA Member TCGA
... soon joining MTFG and IOLI...

Thanks to ALL who warned me about the Woolite!

Why in the world do they call it Woolite????

On Mon, 5 Jan 2004 11:52:09 -0600, Karen in MN wrote:

That's another thing I'm a little fuzzy about -- I thought it was always
supposed to be cold water -- the Sally Melville book said warm water -- and
you are the second person now to tell me they use hot water. Don't you get
any shrinkage / felting problems with hot?


Jumping in here... nope, no agitation, no felting.
Honest!
JM2C,
Noreen

--
Noreen's Knit*che
(Knitting, Crocheting, Tatting, Bobbin-Lace and Spinning are my NICHE in
life..)
NATA #447 Member TKGA Member TCGA
... soon joining MTFG and IOLI...

That's another thing I'm a little fuzzy about -- I thought it was always
supposed to be cold water -- the Sally Melville book said warm water -- and
you are the second person now to tell me they use hot water. Don't you get
any shrinkage / felting problems with hot?




"Slinky" wrote in message
...
I scour wool, yarn, and finished goods in the washer. Fill the tub
with hot water, turn off the machine, dissolve some detergent, poke in
the item(s) and walk away for a while. Flip over to the spin cycle,
remove the item(s), refill with hot water, poke in the item(s) and
walk away again.

No agitation involved.

Karen in MN wrote:
Thanks to ALL who warned me about the Woolite!

Why in the world do they call it Woolite????




Woolite was purchased by the Clorox company. If you look at the
ingredients, it now lists Clorox as an ingredient.

Not a good choice for wools or silks.

Arlene