Washing Wool

General Wool Wash instructions!



1. Make sure your woolen item really needs to be washed. Unlike cotton and man-made materials, wool does not need to be washed
frequently - even wool socks can be worn many times between washing if allowed to air out between wearings. Don't assume your wool
sweater needs to be washed just because you are used to washing things after wearing them once! Get used to gently spot-cleaning and
airing woolens and you will be amazed at how well they last with very little care, and very infrequent washing.


2. Soak woolen items in tepid water for a few hours before washing. Do this until all the woolen fibers are saturated. This method
will help to stop the woolen item from shrinking.


3. Spot clean if needed. Heavily soiled items like diaper covers should be spot-cleaned first with a brush, attempting to brush the
soil off, and rinse it through with clean tepid water. (If a diaper cover is just lightly wet with urine it can simply be rinsed, not
washed, or even just left to air out - wool is a remarkable natural product that is extremely adept at keeping itself clean!)


4. Use the right product. There are products specially made for washing wool, or you can make a cleaner yourself with a tiny amount
of laundry soap or hand soap or castille soap, water, and optionally a small amount of essential oil (such as lavender). Dissolve the
cleaner in the water first, to prevent agitating the wet wool. You can mix the soap into hot water, then mix that into a larger quantity
of cold water to aid in mixing the soap in well. Alternately, you can try using baby shampoo or light detergent. Do not just assume you
can machine wash with "woolite" or other detergent with "wool" in its name. Whatever soap you use, use very little as soap increases felting.


5. Wash in sink by soaking and squishing being careful not to rub the wool against itself or it will felt. Basically heat, agitation, and
detergent are the enemies of wool, so aim to soak and rinse the dirt out. The good news is, wool is extremely easy to clean with just water.


6. Take care if you use a washing machine. Using the machine can be all right if you do not allow it to agitate. Let the machine fill with
tepid water, add soap if using any; you can let the machine agitate to mix in the soap. Add the woolens and press them down into the water,
swish them just a little, very gently and push them under the water. Leave them to soak for 30 minutes. Set the machine to the portion of the
cycle where it drains, then refills for the rinse without ever letting it agitate. Leaving the lid open on top loaders can help here. Let the
woolens rinse, and go through the spin dry portion of the cycle twice.

7. Dry flat in desired size/shape. A folding clothes rack can help here. Remove excess water with a towel by laying the item on a towel and
rolling it up jelly-roll style, squeezing and pressing gently. Unroll then leave in fresh air to dry. Avoid sunning them, that may fade your colors.