Washing pure wool--a revelation

Starrynight49, karmalady I was out today looking for some compatible wool to pick up stitches on the sweater neck and knit a new neckline, but couldn't find any.

i will leave it a bit and just keep looking.

The idea of sewing on with shirring elastic is brilliant and will be remembered, but the problem is that the bit of knitting that forms the neck is completely unstretchable, so even if resewn with strtechable thread, the band itself won't stretch.

I am going to see if I can unravel it, but I am not hopeful as I think the way it was sewn on may mean I have severed the wool at the start or finish of many of the rows when detaching it from the rest of the sweater.

'If a wooly won't wash in the washing machine it's no use to me' has been my mantra for years - always cool minimum wash and spin - usually emerging unscathed including matching Icelandic jerseys DH and I had for many years ala Howard and Hilda - £5 in a charity shop in the 70's! Now a felter even the occasional disaster meets a new life as fingerless mittens, hats or needle felting projects.

I have made cakes from my first washed skeins of pure cashmere, had to be very careful loading them onto my swift. Not enough for a jumper but have started a lovely shawl. I will give it a wool machine wash when it is finished, I think it will bloom even more

Monica I have made a jumper with an unfinished neck which rolled over on itself. I would be inclined to unpick some neck rows but beware of that if it has been knitted top down

M0nica

As I read this I am looking at a beautiful wool sweater, bought this autumn, which I washed with great care - and which has shrunk. The body and arms have stretched back to size with some careful pulling, but the neck is a separate piece, sewn on very tightly with chain stitch. It was always tight, Now it is completely impossible to get over my head.

I intend to remove this piece and think of a way of fixing it back on with more 'give' in it. Grrrr.

Try sewing it back on with shirring elastic.

I once put my daughter's new hand knitted dress in the washing machine.
It was ruined and completely unwearable .

I lived for years without a washing machine - so I think that I'm just used to hand washing .

It's usually a dress and perhaps a jumper or cardigan a day -depends .

I've just put some tea stained linen in the washing machine for the third time and that really infuriates me !

.

I don't mind hand washing, as after I've spent weeks knitting something and paid for expensive yarn (I do splash out, as it's my hobby as well as a jumper) spending 10 minutes with my hands in a sink isn't much of a sacrifice. Also, I have a lot of jumpers, as there is always one on the needles, so each one only gets washed once in a while. I tend to have a washathon in the Spring when the thick ones are ready to be retired for the Summer and again in the Autumn when the thin ones go away in their turn. On those days, I clear the decks, the heated airer is on all day (it holds three at a time) and every radiator has at least one jumper drying on it.

Last week I washed 100% cashmere sweater from the White Company, in the washer, in a net, on 20° short wash and spun it at 1000rpm. It was fine. I never hand wash if I can help it!

I think there are as many answers/opinions on this question as there are questions! I never hand wash anything and have only had one disaster - with an M&S cashmere (therefore relatively cheap) jumper that felted despite, like Callistemon, the fact that I followed the washing instructions to the letter. Sometimes things just happen!

I don't machine wash hand-wash items either Esmay but I've yet to find a wool item that can't be spun.

My father used to take jumpers outside in a clean pillowcase and "spin" water out of them. We didn't have a spin-only option on our washer at the time.
I do this (in a net) for bras.

Everytime I've put a hand - wash recommended item in the washing machine - I've deeply regretted it .
Maybe my old washing machine doesn't do a gentle wash .
I hate spoiling things.
I hand wash clothes every day -it's a habit .I guess that I don't mind !

NotSpaghetti

I did see you'd followed the washing instructions and think you've been very unlucky Callistemon21.

I would definitely pursue the company if I'd followed the instructions. Can you go back to them about it? When was this?

Too late now, Sago, thank you though.
I tried, but in the end they sent me a £20 voucher which I spent last summer, so I had to buy something else from them or lose it. I bought a summer cardigan in the sale which has cotton in it so seems ok to wash.

If it's too late to chase the company again, is it actually felted or just shrunk?
Have you tried a frizzy/dry hair conditioner to smooth down the cuticles?
Try soaking it in a conditioner for dry hair for a couple of hours abd gently stretching whilst damp afterwards?
I expect there are other methods out there to re-aligh the fibres.

BTW, I thwack woven silk Karmalady

I did see you'd followed the washing instructions and think you've been very unlucky Callistemon21.

I would definitely pursue the company if I'd followed the instructions. Can you go back to them about it? When was this?

I always use Euclan, I hand wash but spin in the machine on a low setting.
My cashmere looks like new.

Hot water and all wool = felt

Your yarns sound delicious, Karma. ❤️

Oh dear, not enough to get rid of frustrations 😃

Callistemon21

Thwacking sounds so satisfying 😃

It does, doesn’t it! Only two thwacks though…..

Whitewavemark2

I have lots of cashmere and pure wool and silk.

All go in at the wool cycle and washed in liquid detergent especially for wool and silk.

I am wearing stuff I’ve had for years and all as good as new, except the piling which I remove.

Me too. I put the garments in those zipped washing nets to minimise friction between them, 30° wool cycle.
Touch wood no problems so far! 🤞🏻🤞🏻

Thwacking sounds so satisfying 😃

karmalady

oh dear callistemon, too late. You need to re-visit the washing programme, likely it was too warm followed by cold. Many fibres will felt ie tighten up and shrink at 40, which is considered cool

If it is good quality fibre then why don`t you unpick the jumper and knit it up

No, karmalady I followed the instructions on the label exactly.

It was a bought jumper and DD wore it, shrunk, when she stayed! but now it's going to the ragman. Pity, it was a lovely navy blue Guernsey style sweater.

I've looked up eucalan as I'd never heard of it.
I used Woolite.

And I have enough yarn to knit/crochet to keep me going for years.
Daren't look at yarn ......

some who have not had shrinkage or felting, especially with merino, may well have garments made in machine washable merino which has been chemically treated. That yarn feels different, more slippery

www.woolmark.com/industry/use-wool/product-innovations/machine-washable-yarn/

oh dear callistemon, too late. You need to re-visit the washing programme, likely it was too warm followed by cold. Many fibres will felt ie tighten up and shrink at 40, which is considered cool

If it is good quality fibre then why don`t you unpick the jumper and knit it up

Detergent is used to deliberately felt wool and it also needs sudden changes in temperature, like hot water wash with a cold rinse.

Eucalan does not need rinsing if doing a hand wash btw

I just sat down, I have been skeining yarn all afternoon and have soaked, thwacked and dripped the first lot. A red/white/blue fingering yarn in pure cashmere. It bloomed beautifully in the eucalan for 20 minutes. All the colourmart smells oily so it all needs washing at some stage anyway. Those first skeins are now hanging over the bath to fully dry

I have had those cones in my stash for about ten years and it is lovely to have them come to life. A dk cashmire is next for soaking and I have prepped skeins of cashmere/silk/merino diamante and am in process of skeining cashmere/cotton/angora/merino. I had no idea these yarns were so beautiful, they have always been in their sealed bags

Whatever I do to those skeins now has to be worse than whatever is done to them when knitted. This is how spinners ensure that their yarn lasts well as garments

Callistemon, thwacking is the way we spinners ensure fibres are straightened, it actually makes a big difference to the appearance of newly skeined yarn. Two thwacks per skein

Unless it states "machine washable" (when it goes in the machine on "wool" cycle) I hand wash everything. I spin at 800 if delicate or 1200 if not so. I do not use the dry cleaners except for suits and coats

NotSpaghetti I followed the washing instructions on the label - it said that machine washing was recommended - cool wash and spun the sweaters on 600 rpm.
They were in net bags.

The firm said it was my fault they shrunk because I had spun them too fast. 🤔

Perhaps I should re-wet the one in the rag bag and give it a good thwacking!