Woolens- detergent and washing question

[Jen500]

What brand do you recommend? I bought some nice wool sweaters and I don't want to ruin them. And is it better to handwash them or use the gentle cycle?

[Cinder]

I just use the regular All that I use on my other laundry. I have a front loader with a wool cycle (which I haven't actually tried yet) and a handwash cycle. I use the handwash cycle but it doesn't spin the water out. (I wonder if the wool cycle is like handwash but with a spin cycle? Must investigate!) Anyway, after the handwash cycle runs I do run a spin cycle to get all the water out. It works well.

 

If you have a top-loader I would recommend hand-washing. IIRC even the gentle cycle has too much agitation for wool. For hand-washing fill your sink with cool water (not cold, not warm) and add some soap (not too much--just a tiny bit). Add your garment and press down to get it all wet. You might turn it over and press again to get soap to all areas. You can let it sit for a few minutes. Then lift the garment out to empty the sink. When you take the garment out be sure you are supporting its entire weight. If you just grab a part of the sweater and let the rest drip you can stretch the garment to a bad shape. Squeeze the soapy water out of the garment. Fill the sink again with rinse water, add the garment and gently press the garment into the water. I say "press" instead of "swish" because that's more of the motion I use; the less agitation the better. You will have to rinse the garment a few times to get all the soap out. After you squeeze out as much water as you can, roll the garment in towels to get more water out. Never wring the garment, just squeeze or press. Then lay it flat to dry in the shape the garment should be.

 

Some people prefer to use a wool wash like Soak; it doesn't require rinsing. I have never tried a wool wash. Do not use Woolite--it's not made for woolens.

[AK_Mom4]

We have lots of not-nice wool sweaters that DH and th guys use for winter camping. DD11 and I each have a nicer-but-not-amazing wool sweater we use for skiing.

 

I wash all of these in my front-load washer using just regular detergent, cold water and the wool cycle (mine does have the spin cycle), then hang them to dry. If they were really nice sweaters, I would lie them flat to dry.

 

When I have used a top-load, I put it on the shortest cycle with the least agitation in cold water for wool.

[Cinder]

wool cycle (mine does have the spin cycle)

 

Thanks--I'll bet mine does too! I have a raggedy sweater I wear for sleeping so I'm going to have to try the wool cycle next time. Not having to run a separate spin cycle will at least save me a step in the process.

[besroma]

I use Eucalan. You can get it on Amazon.

 

I have used it for years and have been pleased with how clean it gets the woolens, and with how long they last.

[anabelneri]

I use Kookaburra wool wash. There are some things I'll put in the washer on delicate, and others that I hand wash. Generally it depends on how worried I am about the item felting, though what the tag says certainly makes a difference too.

 

What I like about Kookaburra is that it has tea tree oil in it. We use wool diaper covers on our babies, and that it just seems to make sense to me to have a little tea tree oil in the cleaning process. It has worked well for us.

 

:)

[gardenmom5]

I also use a handwash or wool cycle on a front loader. I would never do that in a top loader.

[Ellie]

I use Amway's hand-wash liquid, in my front loader. I put the garment in a zippered net bag so it isn't twisted.