Conquering Musty Wool Yarn -- Getting the Stink Out // Technique Tuesday
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- Опубліковано 5 лип 2024
- This video explains several approaches for reclaiming musty wool yarn: what works, and what doesn't.
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0:00 Introduction
0:44 Mold/Mildew Challenges
1:38 What Kills Mold?
2:58 The experiment
7:23 Results - what worked, what didn't
8:43 A fourth experiment
10:17 Will it work with other fibers?
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Wow! Easiest worked best. As most of us may know it is important to remember not only to avoid agitating the wool but also not to try to hurry the cooling by adding cold water or plunging the wool in into cool water. Allow the wool in the hot water to cool naturally. Sudden temperature change will cause the wool to felt.
I've soaked musty wool in a warm water solution of baking soda and baby shampoo. I'd let that simmer on low heat, and then leave it to cool on its own. Several rinses with half a cup of white vinegar in each completely removed any odors.
My mother passed away last month and I found a lopi sweater that she had been knitting years ago before she got Parkinson’s. Unfortunately, the sweater and all its accompanying yarn were in a musty room in the back of the basement. I’m hoping I can salvage all the balls of wool and the completed part of the sweater so I can finish it. This video gives me hope. Thank you.
Thank you for your video! I pulled 4 skeins out of my storage unit that were in a plastic bin, and they smelled moldy/musty and gross! I'm glad I came across your video because I'm making a scrapghan and wanted to add some more colors. I'm doing this tonight. Hope it works!
Thank you for this terrific experiment; several times over the years I have been offered various caches of yarns in various stages of mustiness, so this session was of interest to me. And I learned that wool can withstand heat, just not agitation, very good to know this works!
I don’t think UV would ever be sufficient to disinfect yarn due to the twisted plies. The exterior of the yarn might get some benefit, but the interior of the twists would be protected from UV exposure. In healthcare environments, we use UV-C to improve disinfection of patient rooms but the light must have direct contact with the surface to be effective. UV-C does show some efficacy on textiles, but all of the research I’ve seen has been on thin, woven textiles such as bed linens and I think the construction of yarn would prevent even commercial products from being very effective.
Thank you, Roxanne. This is very helpful information. Great job on your expirament. I loved your scientific method.
Thank you for this information. I have used a few drops of Oil of Cloves in water to remove mould and musty smells.
Thank you for this! I have rejected gift wool that smelled musty but now I am going to try it. Lots of love from the Pacific Northwest 🧡
Fascinating and useful info. Thank you, Roxanne!
Now I know what to do with the musty but beautiful wool sweaters my mother in law has given my daughters! Thank you for your work; very interesting!
Thank you Roxanne fir the information, I discovered 40+ skeins of embroidery floss that was moldy...I made sure it dried out but didnt know what to do to kill the mold and get rid of the smell...i wasnt motivated enough to experiment...now i am mitivated and you have done all of the experimenting- granted I am using cotton which can take the temperature variation without felting...so, thank you for sharing...
Loving the experiments!
This was great. Thanks.
Thanks for the experiments and the results.
Thanks for sharing your experiment results. I haven't had to deal with mold-musty wool yet, but I did get a sweater's worth of yarn that was shipped with a scented partner product that I'm sensitive to. After being advised to do a 1:4 vinegar/water ratio soak for a couple hours, half my skeins didn't smell anymore, but they all still triggered a migraine. I'm hoping the other treatment options you tried will help.
I’ve found the best thing to get rid of scent (not mold/mildew) is vodka. Cheap vodka is perfect. I just spray the item liberally and allow to dry somewhere where I am not. (I also have scent triggered migraines)
Scent molecules are volatile and readily taken up by alcohol (hence most perfumes) and the evaporating alcohol just carries them off.
Fascinating experiment! Thank you!!!
Hi Roxanne. This was such an interesting video. Thank you for sharing all of your experiments with us. Although I haven’t run across this issues myself, it’s good to know what to do should the need arise. Great seeing you on The Woolpatch this past Sunday. Delightful! Thanks again!😊
So interesting! Thank you for sharing your experiments. ❤❤❤
Great experiment. Thanks for sharing!
I would think drops of eucalyptus and also rosemary essentials oil in warm soapy water would work very well. Then rinse and add a few more drop of eucalyptus oil to rinse water. Hang in sun to dry. I use this method for recycled clothing from thift stores and the whole issue completely goes.
Excellent video!! I didn’t know, any of this so it was a great learning. Also reading people’s comments to see what they know/ do. Another great video would be what to do when you unravel a project, how to get the kinks out, to enjoy knitting with the yarn again
I have a video on that here: ua-cam.com/video/kSzHcS_VNyI/v-deo.html It's in both playlists that are shown on the end screen at the end of the musty yarn video, as well.
I think fresh air and sunshine works, but it just can take a long time. I haven't dealt with my musty stuff yet, but I had some that was overwhelmingly perfumy. I hung it up around my apartment and just left it for a couple months. The smell did go away. That said, probably still a good idea to wash out all that dust and years worth of ick!
Honestly, I wouldn't put soap and vinegar in the same soak. Soap has a high pH and vinegar has a low ph. I'm glad the heat worked.
Great video. A great service. Thank you.
Thanks for this great experimentation, it is good information to know. 🙏
Very interesting, thanks so much, all your videos are go to’s!😊
I've got a cone of musty wool, about a kilo of it. I've been reluctant to start experimenting with it so it's handy to see someone else doing all the experimenting for me!
I bought a vintage wool sweater that smelled mildewy. It took a wash with Eucalan and an overnight soak in a dishpan of hot water with about 2cups of white vinegar. A good rinse and it smelled like wet wool. Ahhhh. I like that your batch of just simmered water also worked. Great video. Thank you.
Great video. Thank you for your effort.
Very interesting! Thanks!
Great info! Thanks so much
I read that closing up smelly yarn in a plastic bag with activated charcoal (available from pet suppliers as this is used in aquariums) It may take a few weeks, but the end result was good smelling yarn. I have not tried this myself but might be a solution for acrylic yarn you might not want to get too hot. Loved your experiment. I might have washed the hanks before I tried your methods. Good video!
Awesome! Brilliant info, thank you so much!
That was really interesting. Thank you. 🇬🇧
I loved hearing about your experiments. Thanks for sharing your results! I hope I don't need to de-must my yarn anytime soon though 😂
Thank you so much for this, it's so helpful!
Very cool! Thanks.
Great video this week!
Thank you for the tips on cleaning musty yarn. I’ve never come across that yet but it’s good to know. I didn’t know wool could go in hot water either, as long as you don’t agitate it. Thanks. 🧶
Great episode!
thank you for this! i got some nice yarn a few years ago that smelled like sheep barn, and i washed it several times, but there's still a little smell. it's already a sweater; a vendor at some yarn event suggested hanging it in the sun inside out, which makes extra sense now. 🙂 but i could easily add vinegar to the wash water or try the hot water method.
For Synthetics:
My mother-in-law has given me multiple quantities of stinky yarn, all of them acrylic. The first one, I just held my nose and crocheted very quickly into a blanket then washed in hot water. The next set I wanted to knit, so I tied the full skeins into mesh bags and washed twice with Lysol Laundry Sanitizer. Unfortunately, the bags didn't hold up through 2 washes and I had a tangled mess. The laundry sanitizer worked GREAT! So, if you can afford one, I recommend a knitting machine (there are cheap ones on Amazon or Addi has a nice one.) Knit the yarn quickly to keep it from tangling, then wash in lots of hot water with detergent and Lysol Laundry Sanitizer (available at in the laundry aisle of most stores.)
Great experiment! I have wool that smells like mothballs which I washed (soaked) but that actually made it smell worse! I may have to do some more experimenting…
Nice test. Yeah, I never had luck with natural UV light or with freezing anything. I'm not surprise heating it to 165 worked. Wouldn't surprise me if it would work for other fibers as well as long as a person doesn't allow things like acrylic to get to 200 since that will most likely melt.
This is brilliant, thank you! I inherited some yarn that smells of mothballs, maybe one of these methods will work on it.
awesome❤ Thank you❤
Well, highly involved with killing that smell! I believe it, and I hate that smell...but I think I'd use the first method you tried...
just throw it out! Really, a well planned experiment except for the time of year....great job Roxanne!
Very interesting! That the hot water worked best didn't surprise me, as I do that for stinky kitchen sponges. A quicker boil and they are as good as new! No smell at all. ( Just don't forget about them and let the pot poil dry, thus burning/melting the sponge and nearly ruining the pot for good!) spone
I have washed skeins of worsted weight yarn, tied into nylon knee-highs or pantyhose legs, in the washing machine and dried in the clothes dryer.
That may work for machine washable yarns, but that wouldn't be suitable for a non-superwash wool!
Woohoo, 400th like 🤗 Thanks for the tips! Luckily i have not had any smelly wool yet, wool yarn is a special treat i rarely get to buy. As for acrylic yarn, i had seen a tip by The Crochet Crowd in his video Washing Stinky Yarn that seemed to work pretty well, although i have not have the need to try it myself yet.
This is the most helpful video out there that I've found!
I recycle yarn, and then create new and exciting things with it...I moved to a coastal location on the California north coast, and my studio is in a huge old shop in the yard... everything is starting to smell and I thought that I was going to have to throw out so much of my hard work and time...thank you! One question...any ideas on STORING the yarn in a moist environment?
I have no idea. I imagine it would be similar to storing all sorts of things in a moist environment. I suggest looking for general information on damp climate storage. You may find some tips that would apply to yarn storage.
I had brand new yarn that was made from recycled yarn that was fine while knitting it but after a soak in wool wash overnight I let it dry and it became unbearable. I was going to throw the sweater out after 2 soaks. I ended up trying the white vinegar at a pretty strong solution with water and let that soak overnight. Dried it and all I could smell was vinegar... so washed it again in eucalan and it's fine now. What a process though.
I have found using multi process works best for me. I will wash the yarn/ fiber, let it soak in soap with vinegar and sometimes a little rubbing alcohol, and then let it set in the sun. This gets rid of most smells I have come across.
Unicorn products work really well!!! Dawn is alkaline and not the best for wool. But unicorn products are natural. Great vid.
Unicorn fibre wash is alkaline, too. That's why it actually works to clean the wool and suspend the dirt in the water. Fibre Rinse is acidic, and returns the fiber to its proper pH. I imagine the acidic vinegar combined with the Dawn does something similar.
@@RoxanneRichardson I’ve tested the ph and it’s neutral. Which unicorn product are your speaking of. I’m grabbing my pH papers now!
@@RoxanneRichardson ohh I was speaking of the power scour not the wash.
I put smelly wool (Sometimes I’m gifted wool with perfume )in a sealed container along with a sock full of CLAY cat litter and a desiccant which I save from packages I get. Let it sit for a few weeks and 🎉no smell. Afterwards use your usual washing method. Just be patient .
Thank you for the information. Will you let us know if the person ends up trying one of the methods with the rest of the yarn and how it turns out? I'm curious about your shower cleaner. What proportions of soap and vinegar do you use?
She gave the yarn to me way back in September, and I didn't get around to experimenting with it until a couple of weeks ago. She ended up throwing the rest of it out, because nothing she had tried worked, and people kept telling her to just get rid of it.
At least you know what to try if you come across some musty yarn that you'd like to keep if it is salvageable.
I was given 5 bags of acrylic yarn and the smoke smell was terrible. I took it to a place that cleans hockey equipment. I’m not sure if works with wool, but a good source to check it out. My yarn came out smelling like new yarn. I was shocked. It cost me $50. But well with it. Check it out.
I have a question. Would putting strands of wool from a unraveled found project in hot water restore the moisture more effectively remove the kinks? I’ve found soaking and hanging the hanks up not so satisfactory.
Warm water or steam can work. This video here might help: ua-cam.com/video/kSzHcS_VNyI/v-deo.html
At the end you said something about 'other fibers'. My thought was: cotton or linnen? The mold will totally ruin the yarn!
Wouldn't the dwn wash out the lanolin?
There's not much lanolin left by the time the yarn is spun. Once the yarn is actually clean and free of smell and mold spores, you can always soak it again in something like Eucalan, if you're worried about the yarn needing lanolin.
Please think about wearing a mask when you're dealing with mold spores, not good to breath into lungs