Caring for wool - Q pg 2

Hey all,

I'm still confused about how to care for wool - at the moment I'm thinking that I do the following:

1) Spot clean if there's any marks, taking care not to rub too much to prevent felting. Then soak in warm water and wool wash. Then I rinse with cold/tepid water and then 'ring' out as much water as possible by wrapping in a towel, or something similar and applying pressure.

2) Then, to lanolise I dissolve a teaspoon of lanolin with a few drops of wool wash in hot water, and once dissolve add to tepid water and soak wool overnight to lanolise.

Is that right?

I'm about to sort out the wool I have for the LO. The longies I've knitted don't need washing, just lanolising at the moment, but I'm thinking of afterwards.

Sarah
x

i personally wouldn't rinse them in cold water, changes in temperature can cause minor felting which builds up over time if irrc.

i personally use the hand wash cycle in the machine, its alot easier

i personally wouldn't rinse them in cold water, changes in temperature can cause minor felting which builds up over time if irrc.

So can washing in the machine! I personally would not put my woollies anywhere near a washing machine ever! If the woollies are dirty (either from food, dirt from playing outside or poo) then I scrub gently with a wool wash bar and leave to soak for a little while. No need to rinse at all. Then I make up a lanolin solution (tsp of lanolin mixed with wool wash and some boiling water in a mug, stir until dissolved, pour into container then add lukewarm water) and lanolise overnight. In the morning either spin in the machine (if you are feeling brave as that can cause felting sometimes) or roll in a towel and walk over it to squish as much water out as possible, then lay flat to dry.

I'd spot clean (either with wool wash bar, olive soap, or baby wash) as Louise says, but I would rinse (same temp) then lanolise as you describe. I do a very fast spin with wool, theory being that the speed minimises it flopping about the drum, and won't felt. In 4 years of woollies and wool cardis, we have no felting.

For cardis or things that I don't lanolise, I still hand wash, using soap flakes, then rinse by hand, and spin in machine, then lay flat to dry.

The trick is to never let a man near wool... that's when bad stuff happens!

Thanks for that - so if I spot clean with a wool wash bar, there's no need to then soak afterwards in wool wash? I was just thinking in the case of them needing a freshen up that it would help remove any wee, etc... that gets into the fibres?

i personally wouldn't rinse them in cold water, changes in temperature can cause minor felting which builds up over time if irrc.

So can washing in the machine! I personally would not put my woollies anywhere near a washing machine ever! If the woollies are dirty (either from food, dirt from playing outside or poo) then I scrub gently with a wool wash bar and leave to soak for a little while. No need to rinse at all. Then I make up a lanolin solution (tsp of lanolin mixed with wool wash and some boiling water in a mug, stir until dissolved, pour into container then add lukewarm water) and lanolise overnight. In the morning either spin in the machine (if you are feeling brave as that can cause felting sometimes) or roll in a towel and walk over it to squish as much water out as possible, then lay flat to dry.

This is exactly how I would do it too.

Thanks for that - so if I spot clean with a wool wash bar, there's no need to then soak afterwards in wool wash? I was just thinking in the case of them needing a freshen up that it would help remove any wee, etc... that gets into the fibres?

If woolies needed spot cleaning I would just use it as an excuse to wash them as well. So spot clean any bits of food etc that are on them, then wash them, as like you say it will help freshen them up. It really depends on how quickly you need them to use again. We only used wool on Darcy over night or if we were having a day at home so very rarely got food etc on them, so just washed them once they started to get a bit smelly or if they needed lanolising again. If you need them quick to use again though just spot cleaning then airing would be fine in between normal washing

Thanks for that - so if I spot clean with a wool wash bar, there's no need to then soak afterwards in wool wash? I was just thinking in the case of them needing a freshen up that it would help remove any wee, etc... that gets into the fibres?

It depends on why you are washing them TBH. For example if I have just washed and lanolised a pair of woollies that needed doing as they were still smelling after being aired and M spilt food on them then I would just clean with a wool wash bar, spin in the machine or stamp on them in a rolled towel, then use a lanolin spray and leave to dry. If it was both I would do as I described above.

That's really cleared up now - thanks!

At the moment I'm just planning on using them at night until I get to grips with it a little more, but I am betting that I'll rather quickly move to using it in the day as longies just seem to make sense - trousers and a wrap all-in-one!!

So, I think I've understood that a soak in warm water and wool wash is enough to freshen them up when they are still smelling after airing, etc..., and a spot clean with a wool wash bar and a soak in wash and warm water is okay if they need a little more (poo, marks, etc...). Then the lanolising process after that (or spray if I've only spot cleaned without soaking).

Sarah
x

That's really cleared up now - thanks!

At the moment I'm just planning on using them at night until I get to grips with it a little more, but I am betting that I'll rather quickly move to using it in the day as longies just seem to make sense - trousers and a wrap all-in-one!!

So, I think I've understood that a soak in warm water and wool wash is enough to freshen them up when they are still smelling after airing, etc..., and a spot clean with a wool wash bar and a soak in wash and warm water is okay if they need a little more (poo, marks, etc...). Then the lanolising process after that (or spray if I've only spot cleaned without soaking).

Sarah
x

Yep that's pretty much what I do.