I thought you guys might find this interesting, You can find this information on the Asbell's website.
WASHING WOOL
By: Teresa Asbell
There hasn't been a lot written about caring for wool. One of the things you often see on labels is, Do not wash, Dry Clean only. Dry cleaning will certainly clean wool, but it fills it with chemicals that smell bad and removes the lanolin and oil. And if you are an outdoorsman, you don't want to do that.
All wool can be washed. How you go about doing it is important...but it is simple. Forget the wash machine and dryer. All wool should be hand-washed in cold water with a gentle soap. We use Charlie's Soap, which is totally biodegradable and unscented and works particularly well on wool and silk. Woolite has been around for a long time and works well, but it has a fragrance in it, and I'd as soon not have that on my hunting clothes.
A big container, like a bathtub, that will hold lots of water is best. Dissolve the soap in the water and push/slosh your garment up and down, back and forth, pushing the water and soap through the fibers for a few minutes. It doesn't hurt to let it soak a bit. Drain the water and refill the container with clear water and repeat the sloshing action, rinsing the soap away (which you'll not be able to see.) Press as much water out of the garment as possible, but DO NOT WRING or TWIST.
I lay the garment between two dry towels and press as much of the water out as possible. Then I carefully "block" the garment, which amounts to gently stretching the fibers back into their original shape, pulling vertically and horizontally. Sometime two people gently stretching trouser legs and long sleeves works well. You may feel the wet material move a tiny bit, and that's all you are trying to do. I may do that a couple of time as the garment dries. Hang or lay the garment where it catches the air, but not the heat. Honestly, I have a closet full of wool clothing...some of it 50 years old...and I wash it all and none of it has shrunk.
I've been doing this myself for sometime. I didn't know about the pulling on the fabric though. Interesting post,thanks.
Wool shrinks due to mechanical action. The surface of a wool fiber is very rough and sticks to itself causing shrinkage when the garment is mashed together, hence the stretching afterward. No need to be afraid, just be gentle!
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Great post. I do something similar, if i actually wash my wool.
Thanks for sharing Roger
Thanks Roger, good read.
Billy
thanks I almost never took my Asbel wool off the entire elk season and it does need washed....
Targeting your stretching also facilitates a custom fit, some may require more room in the shoulders, longer or shorter sleeves and some more room around the spare tyre. :D
Roger I appreciate the (how too) . The pull over has been worn non stop this hunting season as the weather has been a little on the cool side . Thanks m Maxx
Gee Roger I thought you just wore yours in the rain to wash it :bigsmyl: Thanks for the great info :thumbsup:
I have placed mine in a mesh garmet bag and washed on gentle cycle with baking soda in the washing machine. Then placed it flat on towels to dry with the stretching of it back into shape as it dried.
I have the Shadow Plaid pullover hoodie. It has been washed once so far. The Asbell's wool is tops.
QuoteOriginally posted by Bud B.:
I have placed mine in a mesh garmet bag and washed on gentle cycle with baking soda in the washing machine. Then placed it flat on towels to dry with the stretching of it back into shape as it dried.
I have the Shadow Plaid pullover hoodie. It has been washed once so far. The Asbell's wool is tops.
I'm glad that worked, but I would be very leary about putting the wool in a machine.
QuoteOriginally posted by Stone Knife:
Gee Roger I thought you just wore yours in the rain to wash it :bigsmyl: Thanks for the great info :thumbsup:
Thats pretty close to the truth! :biglaugh:
I'm gonna try the Charlie Soap Roger. It was invented by a guy working in a mill here in NC. Mayodan, to be exact. That mill is now facing demolition.
Love the wool. Maybe Ms. Asbell will begin making pullover pants??? One can hope. :)
where can charlie soap be had???
Good post! I have always done the same or very similar but enjoy seeing it in print as a reaffirmation and a vote of confidence.
Kris
Great info Roger- I think I missed that on T's site/instructions.Will try this year when Mine gets dirty.
I was told by Ron at sleeping indian wool that you need 3 things in order for wool to shrink, heat,water, and agitation. remove 1 of these and it will not shrink. I don't wash my KOM wool anymore or any of my woolrich goodwill finds, but when i did it was gentle cycle, and air dried after stretching.
Thanks for posting this Roger.
Just google Charlie Soap, it'll pop up.
TTT
Brought this up for Tiur.
Talk about good timing! :thumbsup:
I have always hand washed my KOM, but, would wring the garments. I now know better. Thank you.
nick
I have never washed my wool -- just dry cleaned it -- if you are worried about scent -- let it hang out in a cool dry place -- no sun-- even a little bit of sun will shrink wool -- depends on how much nylon there is in it
Some wools are 100 % standard is 85 wool 15 nylon
some are 80/20 dome even 70/30
Washable wool like cabela's has a lot of nylon in it
Washing wool ( hard and often ) can destroy it's properties over time -- it will look used--
A garment you paid alot for should be dry cleaned it will look great and hold up longer
Filson - Pendelton - Woolrich -- and other companies recoment dry cleaning and so do I- hunt down wind -- RT
Nice info!
I agree. Why buy a nice piece of wool and then wash it? And don't say scent. They will small uou anyway.
Good post Roger. I've been washing most of my wool in a similar fashion for years. But I don't wash anything too often as it's "self cleaning" and seldom needs it. But when in doubt I'd lean towards the manufacturers cleaning suggestion to preserve whatever warranty it might have.
Thanks for the posts and insight.
Why wash when you can "dry" clean? "Dry" is not really dry, the residual smell, and that the fluid used is a possible carcinogen are reasons enough for me to put a little effort into hand washing my wool garments. Done as outlined above I've yet to wear out any garment by occasional hand washing.
www.cbsnews.com/2100-500195_162-2507444.html (http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-500195_162-2507444.html)
I recall washing my KOM. followed by blocking and air drying outside. They shrank enough that the fit was off. When I bought a set of Sleeping Indian, Ron advised me the best way to clean and maintain them was to dry clean them...just like you would a fine wool suit, top coat or nice sweater. The better you treat wool, the better the fit and fabric condition. I will say that my SI wool was in perfect condition when I sold it several years (and many hunting adventures) later. As for any scent left by dry cleaning, I could hardly notice it. Regardless, I would typically hang and air my wools for a week or two after having them cleaned...just to be safe.
I also visited the Filson website and reviewed the care/cleaning instructions for their wool garments. "Dry Clean Only"
I have washed my wool by hand for over 20yrs.
I do it just about the same as Teresa/Roger.
I have never had a problem with it wearing out or shrinking. My wool is for the woods and this method works like a charm. I have a few very nice(expensive) wool dress shirts that I wear to Church that also get cleaned this way and they are no worse looking than when new.
Be gentle and you will be fine. I also think that wool does not need to be washed as often as cotton or synthetic materials.Once the others materials get a little funk to them it seems they stay funky sometimes. Wool will go to a natural smell with a little washing.
I will always wear wool,
CTT
I've got several pieces of Teresa's wool. Gonna have to try this. Good post. Thanks Roger
i have a ton of wool - pretty much all i wear in winter - i've always bought it oversized and immediately tossed it into the washing machine and a hot dryer... it shrinks, softens and bulks up to provide even greater insulation - and from that point forward you can wash it without worrying about it shrinking anymore. (just don't use hot water.)
BUT, that's only gonna' work if you have a good, tight weave... otherwise it can shrink too much... i've done this a bunch of woolrich shirts and jac-shirts, even did it with my filson vests and a mackinaw coat (no - NOT the double mackinaw i have for sale!)... a real tight weave like that doesn't shrink much at all...
of course, you never know what's gonna' happen with an individual piece of wool... so if you want to do this, i would measure the garment first and then pull it out of the dryer every 5-10 minutes to make sure it hasn't shrunk too much... but i've never ruined one... works for me, anyway...
TTT for xlefty
Roger, thanks for bringing this back up.
TTT
I tried something new with mine a few days back. Just threw it all in the Jacuzzi tub in the bathroom. Just had to keep my hand over the intake so nothing stuck to it. Worked like a charm and was shocked at the about of dirt that came out. Key to the system is finishing before the wife gets home from work! :)
Brad,
You see the St. Jude Gator hunt thread? I guess keeping an iced dead gator in your Jacuzzi tub wouldn't fly at your house either, huh? :scared: :knothead: :rolleyes:
I purchased my first KOM Bushman shirt in 1993, and as with all my wool, I always washed it with baking soda and by hand. I would wash the shirt as indicated in the original post or I would "spot" wash localized dirty areas of the shirt, and hang the shirt outside to air-dry.
Speed up twenty years to today, my son still wears that KOM Bushman as seen in my Avatar.
how not to make wool shrink-- I have many only wool shirts-- they never shrunk -- I just got bigger !!!
If you are lets say younger-- an old addage a
pound a year after 40 -- when I was 40 I weighted 170 not 65
So if you are lets say -- 35 -- and you are a large - want to WEAR IT for 10 years -- by XL want it for 20 ++ buy XXL --
Most wool does not shrink-- we just out grown them-- that is why there is so much wool on ****.
Washing wool, if you wash it will not look the same-- dry clean and it will look good-- worried about smell- let it hang outside -
If you look at resent prices of a company like Filson- if you pay TOP Dollar -- spend the money to take care of it--
If you google wool prices and cotton prices - you will see why-- I try to keep my prices resonable-- my advise- buy it now - it isn't coming down --- www.classissportsman.com (http://www.classissportsman.com) or www.classicbowman.com (http://www.classicbowman.com)
my track record on product 0 returns -- :) )
OK not true- the guy who washed his shirt it shrunk - I did send him a new shirt - he did say the shirt got bloodied - thats good-- next time dry clean-- -- as for price and quality -- 0 returns .
Will post on Wool pants -- by custom order for now Thanks Stay warm my friends-- Rob T
Doc Nock, wouldn't be a problem at all...until she hot home! Lol
Curious if anyone uses the "fabric softener trick?". Where you let the wool soak in water spiked with fabric softener. Seems to make no performance difference and makes the wool much more wearable for me.
TTT that time of year. I searched so figured I would share and save someone the search
QuoteOriginally posted by Roger Norris:
QuoteOriginally posted by Stone Knife:
Gee Roger I thought you just wore yours in the rain to wash it :bigsmyl: Thanks for the great info :thumbsup:
Thats pretty close to the truth! :biglaugh: [/b]
I know some individuals just jump out of a canoe and into the cold water of Armstrong creek to wash their wool. I'm sure there was some 'agitation' involved-just like a regular washing machine. Others would say I throw things in a pot and stir it, but never my wool. :laughing: