Will Washing Your Wool Ruin It? (Test Swatching Your Fabric!)
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- Опубліковано 28 лип 2024
- Have you ever postponed a project because of that scary wool fabric? Never fear, Captain Fabric Swatch is here to save the day!
Twill Wool Fabric purchased from The Tudor Tailor: www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TheTudor...
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"Welcome to my newest patrons: Bernadette Banner" we love queens supporting queens
I've always been told to prewash according to how you'll treat the final garment. Some will never be washed; some will be washed hot/hot every wearing.
I have heard that a lot, and still think it's pretty solid advice.
How are you going to clean the final garment? If you are going to wash it in hot/warm water and a hot/warm dryer then that is how you prewash. If you are going to dry clean after then dry clean now.
Yeah, I have never really considered washing wool, before or after sewing. Maybe some spot cleaning and steam are all I would do for my fancier coats. I used to have them dry cleaned, but it is not the most convenient or cost efficient for many people or for large quantities of wool.
My Textiles professor always said that dry cleaning agents were carcinogenic and environmentally harmful anyway.
Wool can shrinking each time you wash, so I've come to the same conclusion that pre-shrinking won't really help (since I'm never going to apply much heat to it anyway).
...that said, I'm also a terrible person who has stopped pre-washing, as I do all of my clothing laundry in cold water/hang dry; Which I actually started doing because so many storebought clothes are not preshrunk nowadays either... so if I'm washing in cold already, why bother? :P (Also, polyester blends will pill up faster in the dryer because of the extra static and friction, so avoiding the dryer for clothes is just good all around
If making something expensive and fitted that I planned to handwash later, I agree with the above poster that I would probably go with the steaming method because steaming is probably the only type of heat it will be getting (I have a friend who actually just pays a drycleaner to steam the entire yardage for her to be safe; not dryclean it, but just industrially steam it). I probably wouldn't bother, but it's an option).
The main thing you want to avoid is the "felting" stage of shrinking. If you don't heat it up and agitate it, and it's not fluffy or a knit, it shouldn't felt, which is why all those "soak only" wool washes are a thing. It might come out stretched a bit funny but you can block it (stretch it while wet and dry flat) back to original measurements.
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@@akbauer2525 That advice is mainly used for plant fibers (cotton/linen), not protein (animal) fibers. Hot wash hot dryer should never be the way you are going to *regularly* wash a wool, unless you happened to buy "superwash" treated wool. Regular wool often continues shrinking/skewing just a little bit every time, no matter how much you pre-wash, until it's a piece of felt.
I feel like you missed the opportunity to say: To wash or not to wash....that is the question.
Darn! I'll get it next time 😆
😂😂😂😂
Everyione: *freaks out about your Harry Potter Badge*
Meanwhile me: That Assassin's Creed pouch though! 😍
Same! I totally geeked out when I saw the AC logo!
Honestly I bet she is doing most of her projects in 16th century just to feel like a florentian lady in the times of Ezio Auditore XD
I was about to come down and comment this! I’m so glad someone saw it! I was so excited! The gamer in me was screaming with joy.
Re: fluffiness...a piece of wool is kind of textured with sort of "scales". Air left under/in these spaces can create fluff. So for air-drying, the water leaves a space (air) behind. For heat drying or a process where you press the water out the water is removed quickly and less air is left in its place.
I would also consider that hand-washing might reduce changes. If historical pieces were being hand-washed or washed with less mechanical agitation you could reduce possible wear/change in the fabric.
When I washed wool, I found that the first wash, cold water in the washer on 'delicate' and laid out to dry, did very little. My second wash ironically enough, shrunk a LOT! When I did some research, I found that the first wash most likely removed the lanolin from the wool, and, therefore, the 'naked' , unprotected wool was free shrink. Just thought you'd like to know what I found. I wouldn't want you to wash your wool once, thinking that your beautiful handmade garment was now perfectly safe to wash again, without a second testing. Enjoy your beautiful wool!
I am an idiot and know nothing, but I heard that wool can shrink every time its washed or wet... But cotton is shrink the first time then it wont shrink anymore
@@voidremoved Hmmm. Very interesting. If tased in cold water, I have found that it shrinks very little if any especially after the second wash when washed by hand. If you are washing wool in hot water in order to felt it, the wool can only shrink so much, and then stops.. Have fun with your wool!
This would make so much sense. I ride horses and there are sheep skin saddle pads that require special lanolin detergent.
This is something I know about (I'm a fiber artist, but I love what you do so I watch your videos!). Spinners do things to wool that would shock knitters, and people prepping wool to spin do things that would make spinners nervous (As in, I put wool in a pot to simmer, before I started working with raw fleece that would have seemed like the worst idea ever). Weavers, on the whole, do things that they expect to change the wool in the way they want it to be changed - it's likely you were not the first person to heat/agitate this cloth. Wet-finishing generally involves being a little hard on the cloth, because you want the individual strands to join together (fulling, not felting, felting happens with unspun fibers).
Also, my guess is the skewing is either because it's not a balanced twill (hard to tell in the video) or it was woven with singles (yarn that only has one ply), or it could be that after the initial wash of the fabric it was stretched on a frame (traditionally, on tenterhooks, and now when we're waiting to be "let off the hook" we say we're on tender hooks - neat, isn't it?).
Finally, just to add another variable, you can get "no rinse wool wash" and soak your fabric/garment in a vat of warm/room temp water and then spin out the excess and hang to dry - no agitation, no heat, but better at removing things (especially any oils and loose dirt) than just steam. There's a few different brands, if you can't find it at a fabric store, check your local yarn shop.
Hmm...that no-rinse wool wash sounds intriguing. Maybe just because I am lazy; I have a no-rinse wet shampoo (you rub it off with a towel to remove the oil & dust from your hair). I wonder how different that no-rinse shampoo is from the no-rinse wool wash.
I'm a fiber artist too and I was going to say what you said! Yes! I also process from raw, spin, and weave or knit. Knowing how to treat fabric without having been a part of the entire process of getting it from fleece to cloth is tricky. I always err on the side of this wool has potential to shrink handle with caution, cold water, and minimal agitation.
The no rinse wool wash does leave behind a residue, which attracts more dirt, which is why they suggest using such small amounts. I strongly suggest rinsing them out, even though the companies that make them advertise not needing to. It doesn't do any more to clean things than plain water, but it does leave behind a nice smell, which can be useful if your things need freshening rather than a proper cleaning. Some brands have a conditioner in them that makes the fabric feel less scratchy too. Regular hair conditioner works just as well and for less money in case anyone's curious. Some good info here though :) We used to raise sheep and turn their wool into blankets, fabric, and clothes... all by hand. You can do all kinds of intense stuff to wool without ruining it once you understand some of the basics of how and why it behaves the way it does :)
I have to check all that stuff out!
Thank you! I never knew that their was an entire community of fiber artists.
Stephanie Perry I was going to mention the same thing as I have processed wool from fleece to finished product. I’d just add that the main thing is never to mix heat and agitation. Cold water shouldn’t really cause felting, though it could cause some distortion based on the fabric. You can also do the double diagonal (bias) stretching again to try to work it back into proper shape again. I also intentionally agitated my yarn in the hot water after I finished plying it to full it a bit to help it hold together while knitting, weaving, or crocheting. I don’t know if that would limit some shrinking in the finished product or not. Anyway, nice to see other fiber arts represented here in the comments!
This was really interesting! I just started a bigger (for me, lol) project in wool and was debating whether I should wash it first... Then I decided a little dirt would only make the dress more authentic looking, and I couldn't be bothered. I'm mostly afraid of the texture changing from machine washing and will probably end up spot cleaning/hand steaming the garment after use anyway.
There's something nice about a little bit of dirt on a new dress - makes it feel more real somehow.
Wool is one of my favorite fibers to work with. Because I dressed my kids in wool as babies and toddlers I’m not afraid of it. One of the best ways to learn how to deal with wool is to look up how parents who use wool soakers and longies wash wool. Also, a lot of us knitters and crocheters use wool a lot and there are tons of articles on how to launder it. Wool is super easy. Because of its antibacterial and antimicrobial properties, it can be aired and washed infrequently. Airing also gets rid of smells. Wool is easy to hand wash in the sink or tub with warm water and a lanolin soap. Soak, gently wash, roll to get water out, rather than ringing. Dry flat, you can pin into shape and it won’t need pressed. It is one of my all time favorite clothing fabrics.
And, ooh! I am making a similar Greenland gown for a melee I am going to in November!!
I have a wool garment and when I did research on washing it I read to use shampoo. I will use your advice to roll to squeeze the water out, thank you.
I love my wool diaper covers. I hand wash and air dry them. It's worked well for the past few months.
I just had another son and I just brought a new diaper cover for him as well. My 2 year old is only in diapers at night so now I get to experience wool diaper covers 24/7
Is this only for 100% wool? In particular to air it out? Some wool i have is blended with polyester but is mostly wool
As a lifelong knitter and spinner I was slightly surprised that hand-washing wasn't even on the table. If I put that much time and energy into a project I can give it a little love to keep it beautiful over time!
With wool it's really important to mind what detergent you use. Enzymes break down wool, so whether your wool is superwash or untreated, you should always use wool wash. Same with silk, btw.
Meh, not really. Just add vinegar (wool likes to be at a lower pH than detergent), and don't use any bleach/peroxide/oxy-clean.
As a knitter who has felted a few too many socks in the beginning of my knitterly life, here are some tips from my experiences with wool...wool will get softer if quality and treated kindly. The hot/hot test likely felted even though it didn't really shrink. Washing with cool water and allowing to air dry or in the case of knitted lace blocking it usually causes the wool to grow and become super soft and drapey. If you're worried a super saturated color might bleed from your wool add vinegar, it will help the wool retain as much color as it possibly can.
Goodness that wool looks so soft and squishy, I can't wait to see your finished project. I know it will be wonderfully cosy and lovely.
Always use vinegar to keep color vibrancy!
Hi sorry I have question but this might not related on the topic
how old are you when you learn knitting?
@@joshbrescia4139 I taught myself from a book at 18, but as I often do I jumped into one of the hardest things and burnt myself out after one project. Around 2009 I took myself to a class at my LYS (local yarn store) and found that I'd learned a few things wrong and corrected them, which made knitting life so much easier. So I first ventured into it at 18, but really got into knitting and stuck with it at 29.
Ah - Morgan, you forgot a step in your testing - when washing wool, you are supposed to "block" the fabric either right after it comes out of the dryer or when you lay it out to air dry. Blocking (most commonly known from drying wool sweaters) is where you "square up" the weave of the fabric/garment post-washing and before wearing again.
Oh, good to know! Thank you!
@@MorganDonner also doing a conditioning wash can keep down the fluff and static. A conditioning wash is exactly what it sounds like- take a tube, fill with lukewarm water, dump in conditioner- I use a cheapo dog one- and then work ing conditioning through the whatever. Let it sit in the water for anout 45 minutes to an hour Rinse until the water runs clear. Then gently burrito it into a towel and step on it. It'll still be damp but that's okay. You lay it flat to dry.
I might do this for something knitted like a sweater.. but id personally prefer to let the fabric settle after washing without blocking as i know for sure ill never bother to block the entire dress after a wash:P
Brittany Disher What a good idea. Thank you for the information.
how do you block big lengths of fabric? Does it work with other fibers such a linen? my dresses need 7+ yards each and I usually have to buy at least 1 extra yard because of the twisting.
Lovely! Maybe someone already mentioned this, but before any kind of machine prewash on a woven fabric, finish the cut edges first! Zigzag, straight stitch with pinking trim, sewing machine overlock type stitch or use a serger...all that fraying loses square inches of fabric so treating edges first saves fabric and a tangled thready mess of frustration (exponential on a few yards rather than a small swatch). Thank you, Morgan!
I always pre-wash fabric (or new purchased clothes for that matter) because I hate the feel of the sizing used to keep the fabric wrinkle- free before it's purchased. If the material is delicate like silk or wool, I'll hand wash in cold water with baby shampoo and roll in a towel to press out excess water, then iron dry on the coolest setting to restore the texture- this gets rid of the crepe-y texture that silk can get when washed.
So far, nothing has shrunk, felted, or faded on me. And since every-day clothes don't get the protection of linen shifts, and I live in an area famous for its rain, and, well, I'm a bit clumsy... if a garment or fabric can't handle even gentle hand washing, it's just not a good choice for me.
My opinions aside, that white wool is magnificent and I don't blame you for keeping it as pristine as possible. It is going to make an amazing gown & I can't wait to see you make it! Thank you for sharing your research and thought processes as you work through the project. It's very helpful to see how others work through the decisions and challenges that go into creative work.
I didn't cover it in the video, but I have heard that a lot of people are sensitive to the sizing, and wash their wool for that reason alone, shrinking and such aside. Great reminder for others!
This is such a fascinating video to watch as someone coming from the fiber arts world where wool is such a staple for us. Seeing how people who aren't as familiar with wool stress over how to clean it isn't something I think I've ever considered! I encourage all of you who are interested in sewing with wool to look into how knitters wash wool garments because it's pretty dang easy and will ease you the worry of destroying your fabric/garment.
0:33 cue me geeking out over your Harry Potter Gryffindor Head Girl badge. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Sometimes I feel like my house changes from day-to-day 🤔 I think that means I need to get all of the badges!
I'll throw this in the mix. I asked an alpaca rancher who raises alpaca for yarn and makes garments from the alpaca yarn what washing detergent to use. She replied the same shampoo you useon your hair.
Wow. When I first skimmed this comment I thought it said that the lady made garments for her alpacas out of the yarn. 😂
lol. That happens to me alot. I skim through so quickly, it's like "wait, whaaattt???"
Yes. Alpaca fiber is alpaca hair.
The difference between shampoo and official wool washes is that the wool wash contains lanolin most of the time and doesn’t need to be rinsed out.
I take it a step further. I also use conditioner to keep the hand very soft. Wool is hair, after all--and human hair is a fiber--ie the terms are technically interchangeable. I just treat my wool items very very well and keep them clean so the moths aren't interested in them!
For the cold wash test it was definitely the towels that roughed up your swatch the most.
As a knitter I always default to hand washing all my knitted garments in cool to Luke warm water in the sink. Then I roll into a towel to get most of the water out and block to the right shape.
Yes it’s time consuming and the largest piece I’ve ever done this to is a jumper (sweater). Hand washing a full length dress would be difficult and you’d probably have to do it in the bath.
But you could also use the gentle cycle in a washing machine and use cool water. Heat and agitation are what felts wool the most.
Very interesting experiment!
I'm a knitter too, and for small projects or one project I'll hand wash, but since I mostly knit socks, I refuse to hand wash 30 pairs of socks. So I use a hand wash/hand knit cycle (I swear the machine was destined to be mine,) cold/cool water and it comes out perfectly every time. Thankfully for my sanity. :D
I agree about the agitation. I teach knitters how to shrink wool on purpose. The two things that are required for shrinkage are a pH change, such as that included in soaps or detergents, and agitation. Very cold and/or very hot water also can shock it, especially after it started to shrink a bit already.
Most laundry detergents from the store include “brighteners “which will damage your wool easily. (These are why black cottons turn gray over time.) Also, as mentioned above, enzymes fight protein atains (wool is protein), and bleach is worse... it destroys wool (actually dissolves it).
My husband is a bicyclist and wears a lot of wool jersey garments year round. He fills the empty washing machine with warm water, adds specislized wool wash which has no brightners and adds lanolin. Then he adds clothing without agitating it, and lets it soak for a half an hour at least. After that, he spins it dry, and because it sticks to the tub it doesn’t agitate at all. After that, he air dries. His thin wool knits that get heavy use can last for years (only wash when necessary, not every wearing).
I must admit, for most things I like to overwash… I tend to say I’d beat it up, at least for things that are intended to be washed in the first place.
Wool is special to me, so I do get it wet because I want to wash it wet but I do treat it nicely, the same as hubby’s method. I don’t want to shrink it, so I don’t agitate and I don’t put it in the dryer which is still agitation. I do want it to go in water, so it’s a little bit relaxed and a little bit fuzzed. To me, fuzzy is an asset.
As my wool addiction deepens, this is exactly the video I needed.
Margo Lambert Haha! I have recently become enthralled by linen; sometimes it’s even hard to start my project because I sit there holding the lovely fabric and imagining all the other garments I could make with it.
@@Tina06019 I hear you. It is almost more precious when still flat fabric because it can still become anything. To choose is to lose!
Yes!!! Wool everything. Today I counted, and indoors I was wearing 9 items of wool (if you count pairs as one item).
This came too late for me, I washed my wool blend fabric without thinking (on preshrink autopilot), and well... Let's just say it will become a felt gingerbread house rather than a sleek pencil skirt. 😅
Oh nooo!!!! 😂 A very stylish gingerbread house :D
What I personally have noticed is that wool blends tend to shrink a lot more than 100% wool 🤔
@@PestoPasta666 I would agree with that, barring the one exception (wool/acrylic blend) when I made my 5 year old niece a sweater that grew 3 sizes and fell off her shoulders for 2 years.
@@anniesmask oh no 😂 well, at least the shirt got growing room instead of turning into a baby's shirt 😂
@@PestoPasta666 So true!
The woman who taught me to spin owns a sheep ranch in Oregon. She’d been a a wool grader in Australia and took me through skirting the fleece, scouring the wool (washing), twist/crimp count per type of fleece among other things. Critical to the topic at hand, you can boil wool to clean it, where you must not err is with the rinse… the rinse water much be within 5-10*F of the wash water. The other issue that others have mentioned is the structure of the wool fiber. You can agitate wool underwater with no fear of felting, where you run into trouble is with the addition of air. Lifting the wool out of the water and rubbing it together will cause the directional scales on the surface of the fiber to interlock, then you have felt and shrinkage. Hope this helps.
I’m in the prewash everything camp mind you I have mostly made kids clothes so washing is mandatory. When I first started sewing I did the hot wash hot dry but eventually I realized other than diaper fleece there really wasn’t any need to go overboard. My normal now is a cold wash and medium dry. If I were dealing with wool I would probably do a gentle wash and hang dry. I have heard far too many horror stories about shrinking not to at least do a test.
I crochet, and I don't often make clothes, but a year ago I decided to make a nice wintery vest for myself. I got some wool, more expensive than I would usually buy. I made up the vest, was proud of it, washed it once on a cold wool wash and air dried it, and it no longer fits! Absolutely gutted!
Couldn't really prewash yarn, but it was made up out of granny squares, I could have washed those before joining them up!
So to anyone who is crocheting something fitted, I have to recommend washing separate pieces before joining them!!!
Heat plus agitation will felt wool. So, you can use heat with little agitation or cold with more agitation. It should be laid flat to air dry. Also, if it's a blend it will tolerate washing better than pure wool. I would also lanolize the wool. This provides water/dirt proofing.
Not shrinking is a mark of some high quality wool! Test swatching is always the way to go, especially for wool where some qualities can shrink or felt.
For me, I always pre-wash my fabric because I am allergic to lubricating oils used in yarn and fabric production! I pre washed (by hand) allll of the fabrics I'm using for my wedding dress even though I will not likely wash and re-wear it, simply for the peace of mind that I won't break out in hives on my wedding day!
Wool is really very simple to care for even if the type you have tends to felt : heat, agitation, and alkalinity all contribute to wool felting so if you hand wash with a wool-safe detergent such as woolite, Euclan, Soak, or Synthrapol in cool water and continue to care for your garment that way, it's very unlikely you will shrink or felt it.
This video brought back an old, old memory. In the sixties, the high school my dad thought at didn’t have direct access to the library because of some construction. The only access was after the end of the school day through the home ec sewing room. I was 7 and I remember stopping to watch one of the advanced students laying her Pendleton wool fabric on top of wetted army blankets that had been laid on top of a cutting table, putting another wet blanket on top of her fabric and rolling the sandwich up to shrink her fashion fabric.,
Test n°3 is a similar technique to what is considered THE way to take care of wool knitted sweaters, according to the 1952 knitting book I inherited from my granny : first, let it soak in water for a while, with some adequate detergent if needed (stain, etc), then rinse and do not twist, just press. Second, pile up many towels or absorbing fabric, flatten the piece of clothing on it (try to avoid wrinkles), roll, walk on the roll to extract as many water as possible, then remove from the towels. Last part is laying the knitted item on a flat surface.
You might even want to pin it down (on a yoga carpey for example, not the thing they use, but not everyone as a thick carpet laying around nowadays), so it's strech a little and doesn't wrinkle. That's called "blocking". It also mentions that ironing is to be avoided at any cost.
I don't know if it can help with wool fabric, but maybe you'll find it useful ! I can't wait to see your project complited !
Wool like this I never wash in the washing machine, just dry clean, so I always have it steamed by the dry cleaner before cutting the pattern. I test-washed a piece of wool suiting once and it was not good to make a suit afterwards so I'll never do that again.
All other fabrics (which don't felt) I wash in the hottest water and dry in the hottest setting on the dryer, even silk.
I have dry cleaned wool before sewing as well.
Keep in mind though that while the change on a 2.5" piece can seem very small, once you extrapolate to a bigger piece of fabric, the shrinkage also scales up.
So a 25" piece has 10x more shrinkage than a 2.5" piece
A very good point! I did scale up the potential shrinkage, (about an inch in the bust) and decided that my pattern had enough ease (about 3 inches) so I wasn't going to stress over it.
It's funny, I always Know I love the energy in your videos but sometimes I just LOOSE IT when you are so gosh darned fun.
"Treat your wool items with absolute care" *looks nervously at wool that was dyed outside in freezing temperatures* Ah yes. Absolute care.
In all reality I'm terrified to sew it up because of the possibility of bleeding dye onto the vest under it.
@baka-imoutcosplay vinegar give it a good soak in room temp water and a good dosage of white vinegar. Or even look up yarn dyeing and watch how to heat set yarn. Then go and make that fabulous vest!
What kind of dye? Different dyes have different methods of setting the dye.
It was Dylon powder dye in several different colors. I'd read that citric acid could be used in place of vinegar as a mordant so that's the only change I made to the standard instructions.
You might research Synthrapol available through Dharma Trading or other dye sellers. It can epl get out excess dye. i used a drop in final rinse water when dyeing wool yarn.
Love the grimace with the "will I wash it ? " 😂 I made a linen tunic and it shrunk so bad I wanted to cry. I machine wash everything cold and hang dry my wool viking dress. I'm glad you talk about fabric testing this is helpful!
Ps your embroidered pocket is so pretty I could cry
Such an awesome video with a great example to follow for swatch testing! A few months ago I asked you about pre-washing wool gabardine on IG, and this is exactly what you recommended! Good thing, too - a 5x5 square shrunk 1/4 inch, so I did the steam method (using the summer sun) to preshrink. Now I have a lovely skirt! You're awesome, thank you for all that you do and the knowledge you bring to this community! 💕
Just casually showing off embroidery... 😂 Loved your pouch cameo
I really appreciate how you share these things. You make this stuff fun to learn. Thank you!
From my own experience: I washed a mohair sweater by hand, in cold water, with shampoo - no special detergent, and to make sure it remains soft, i used my regular conditioner instead of clothes softener/conditioner or whatever else you call it. i let it air dry flat - driers in Romania are so rare, i don''t know anyone owning one. NOTHING bad happened to the sweater - it didn't shrink, it didn't lose its shape...
And what i mean by "washed by hand" is i let it soak for a number of hours (=aka until i remembered about it), at which point i moved it around a bit in the water, and rinsed with luke-warm water.
I am loving this series. Following every step you have been taking to make this dress.
Great video and very interesting content! I spin wool and I love nothing more than to get a freshly shorn sheep fleece and processing it so as you can imagine I have learned a lot about wool. If you look at an individual wool "hair" under a microscope you will see that there are scales along the shaft. These help hold the fibre together as it is spun (I am simplifying the explanation and giving a very brief overview) All this to say that what happens to wool is not really shrinkage so much as it is felting. When wool is washed in hot water especially and agitated and then tumbled dry the scales are being activated and will grab onto the other fibres thus pulling them together creating "shrinkage". One characteristic of wool is that it has memory so after washing laying out the fabric or garment in its original shape which helps the fabric to go back to its original form. I normally wash raw fleece in water that is too hot to put my hands into and have always had great success when washing fleece with no disturbance to individual fibres or staples. It is best also to keep the water temperature and thus the temperature of the wool consistent during the washing process because varying temperatures can also cause felting. It is best to never agitate wool but if you must use lots of soap because more soap will cause the scales to slide past each other thus preventing them from grabbing onto each other. For drying never wring out your garment but instead squeeze it (really push moisture out) like you did with the towel and lay it flat to dry and take a minute to reshape your garment and you should have no problem at all with wool.
I am finally emotionally ready to try messing with my nice wool fabric and I came right back to this video to absorb your wisdom 🙇
Your timing is astonishingly perfect - I'm sitting here eyeing a yard of silk that's destined for a blouse, and trying to figure out how I ought to pre-wash it.
Thank you for this. So far I have only worked with cotton. I am wanting to break out of my fabric bubble (because it is currently freezing outside) and this was super helpful. Mostly because as I don't have the money for the fabric, I never gave any thought to pre-washing wool at all, or how I would care for whatever I end up making out of it.
Thank you so much for posting this despite the "do nothing" results. I didn't find this until after starting to cut out a project and I'm so relieved because I "did nothing"
Thank you for doing this test study. The Tudor Tailor wool twills are beautiful. It's good to know you can safely sew without a pre-wash of doom.
My philosophy with fabric prewashing is to always wash it how I will wash the end garment. Since my apartment is a shared laundry situation, all of my nicer garments get handwashed in my bathtub with my normal detergent (yes even silk), so if I'm making a nice pair of dress pants or a suit jacket I wash all the fabric in my tub just like I would with the final garment. My more casual clothing and undershirts/pants get washed normally, so anything that will be made into casual/everyday clothing gets washed like normal. I've found that doing it this way gives me the most realistic shrinkage/warping for each individual garment.
I am completely in love with that little embroidered pouch!
I was surprised as well! I always wash really nice wool items by hand in cold, tiny amount of soap. Roll in a towel, then lay flat. When almost dry, hang and hand smooth back into it's shape and check on it later and finger smooth again.
Thank you so much for this lovely video and the wonderful information, I have always been told to wash cold and hang or hand wash in cold and hang dry my wools.
Ahhh yes. Prewashing, the thing I almost never did and many times regretted never doing. I'm definitely going to have to adopt your research and testing methods for future projects with more expensive fabrics. Especially when it comes to silks.
Thank you Morgan...that was awesome. I once had a beautiful wool ski sweater...I washed and dried it and it shrunk to a size for a newborn...Oooopppss. Loved that sweater...
Dawn Gable
Did you find a child who could inherit it?
As a quilter, I am so happy you embraced a rotary cutter. They are THE BEST. also for color fast issues: color-catcher laundry sheets are the best.
I don't know if this had been mentioned in the comments yet, but if you are going to dye the fabric, you should probably wash and dry in hot first, especially if you are using natural dyes. With natural dyes, there is a long stovetop mordant bath before the long hot stovetop dye bath. That will shrink your fabric more than just a single machine wash and dry. Add to that, there is sizing on the fabric from the weaving process that will inhibit both modern and natural dyes giving you a splotchy finish.
Thank you! I feel much better, I always do tests on my fabric, and sometimes put everything off on a project while I stress over how to address the fabric care issues. I just did a similar test on my silk taffeta. *shudder* but it all turned out well!
Thank you for your research and testing. 👍 With hot water and hot dry I expected shrinkage too.
Thank you for this. I will probably do the cold wash air dry, my regency dress also has quite a bit of ease to it. I already made one of cotton.
This was so helpful! I just found a huge bolt of wool fabric at the thrift store and have been worried about how to wash it. Thanks for this :)
You are so cute. With my wool, I just bought extra yards for shrinking allowance . Then prewashed it all. Air dried. Still looked great. Ready for project.
Sidenote, you really stepped up your transitions and editing game! Loving it!
I've learned from knitting that it's ok to wash wool in hot or cold water, as long as you're gentle with it. What causes problems is when there's a sudden temperature change in your wash, it shocks the wool. Temperature changes mixed with scrubbing or washing machine agitation causes the wool to felt and shrink.
Your hair is so pretty! And the fabric looks so soft
I do always prewash my fabrics but also have to say I only use linens, denims or heavy cottons. This is a great tutorial for how to treat any wool that I may use in the future tho'. Thank you! Love your work :-)
The only wool that I've washed has come straight off the sheep and is now ready to be spun. I'm thinking it's probably a completely different thing. Good luck with the dress. It will look amazing in this colour with the hand that it's got. Lovely draping.
I love your tie-on pocket! I still need to make one.
Thank you for this...really good advice! I honestly expect the hot/hot swatch to shrink up to nearly nothing...how encouraging to know it didn’t! And I love your hair...my middle daughter wears hers similarly but is blonde :)
Thanks for the info! I haven't worked much with wool (this reason being a part of it), and was always curious. Though with my ~30 years of sewing, I've always been a proponent of prewash your fabric how you intend to wash the finished garment. It's nice to see that wool fits in that category too! Though I think I'll stick with doing test swatches until I become more comfortable with wool...
🤔 Hmmm, for wool, I prewash (and wash the garment later) with a tiny bit of shampoo. My goal is to try to keep as much lanolin in the fiber as possible and not felt it, so nothing harsh and “oil removing” like dish soap, and as little agitation as possible. Then, if I can air dry, I will, but wool stays wet for so long, I don’t want it to get all funky. Sometimes I put it next to a dehumidifier, sometimes on an air-fluff mode in the dryer.
That’s what I do, at least. 😊
I also washed mohair with shampoo. and then used my regular conditioner to ensure it stays soft. ;) i air dry it though, flat, a i have none of the other tools you mention - we have a dry climate in summer and in winter.
I'm using a lot of wool this season and found this very helpful! I ended up giving my wool garments a "cold bath" and hanging dry, because I am a sweaty person and I don't trust my apartment's crude laundry machines (also at 1.75 per wash or dry, I didn't feel like doing swatches lol and I do a lot of "baths" anyway). I love that wool you bought! I want to find something similar now!
First off, been LOVING the back log of videos. Thank you for all the best content 😊😊
This is late to the party bc I've only recently discovered the amazing Ms Donner, but something that didn't get mentioned but would be important to consider is if it's 'natural' or superwash wool.
(I'm a traditional knitter and spinner. 20+ years as a wool wench and fibre textile fiende, hopefully that'll give me some Street cred ;-) )
Some commercial 100% wool fabrics are made with superwash wool, which is one of the main reasons it won't felt or shrink, and may even fluff or warp slightly (as did the gorgeous wool here). Natural wool is hair, hair follicles have scales that lift in moisture and catch on each other - bit like Velcro. This is also why wool trends to feel itchy, btw. Superwash wool has been treated to remove those scales. Nothing to get caught on, ergo nothing to felt together. Flip side is that the wool is slippery so it might side around. The warping into a rhombus is most likely is due to over spinning of the threads before weaving (just something that happens sometimes in production) and the nice soak in the washing machine encouraged the will threads to... Let their hair down 😉
Wool items that say dry clean only are not super wash and should be either spot tested or simply pampered to no end to avoid unhappy accidents.
I screamed when I saw the AC logo on your pouch! Love it!
As a knitter who LOVES wool, I "hand wash" all my knitted goods, and by hand wash I mean I put it in a small tub with cold water and a little ph neutral soap, gently press, switch to clean cold water and gently press, use clean cold water again, then roll it in a towel before letting it air dry (typically while blocking, which prevents shrinkage and keeps the shape). That's all mostly for the knitting itself, bc I don't want any accidental felting fuzzing my nice rows, but I imagine if I need to wash sewn woolen clothes, I'll likely do the same with those
I don't sew historical items but I pre-steam wool and only ever carefully hand wash in cold water and hang dry or dry clean.
Nice! Now you can get obsessed with strip piecing patchwork either for clothes or quilts!
I know this is an old video, but I was looking to make a wool skirt and was really worried about not being able to wash it! thank you for sharing this!
I've always washed mine with Wool detergent in the machine and hung them to dry. My viking stuff still looks and feels the same after a number of years. I haven't been that careful about getting them dirty either
I crochet and knit garments of all kinds. After the setting stage when the items end up in my wardrobe, I wash them on a hot wash when they need it with whatever else needs washing and the same detergent and fabric softener. Drying, I always air dry. I peg with the weight and style in mind to stop the wool stretching under its own weight. I find arms can stretch a lot so I own them up on the line to and such. I don't think there would be so much movement in wool fabric but still something worth keeping in mind. I imagine thus dress will be quite heavy when it's washed. I'm looking forward to seeing it finished
the Greenland dress haunted me. AND it took me two days to find this Morgan. Would love to see a 4th follow up vid of your completed project. Very much enjoy your broke it up into smaller pieces and bundled them together, which made was my EUREKA moment for what I had been searching for, when I saw your play list
If you do end up needing to wash the dress later on I would recommend using non-enzymatic detergent. The enzymes in regular detergents can break down the natural fibers of wool over time. (Maybe you're already doing this and just didn't mention it, but this is my Scandinavian knowledge I'd like to impart) ❤️❤️❤️
This is perfectly on-time-- I have my first ever wool arriving on Monday and have been wondering what to do with it!
This is very interesting because I've never worried about washing wool socks. Yet, I have wool jackets, (for showing horses) and a pendleton blanket that I would never think to put in the wash. My jackets have always been dry cleaned because horses are slobs. I've never had an issue with dry cleaning.
So while I enjoy binging your videos whilst I'm supposed to be doing other things, I have to say, your comment section is shockingly full of excellent advice. I'm genuinely impressed.
edit: Grammar. Sometimes I'm surprised that English is my first language.
This was super useful info! Thank you!
This is very helpful! Thanks Morgan
That wool looks absolutely delicious. I'd have hesitated, too. ~ Lisa
Brilliant swatch testing. You might perhaps, next time consider putting that delicate handwash cycle to use using shampoo rather than regular detergent, adding a conditioner to the rinse water (NOT a fabric softener) and then rolling it in a huge towel and treading on it to wring it out. This is pretty much how we care for our hair, no? The same effect applies to wool which is of course, just sheep's hair. I tend to block it as I steam iron it. Wool is far more washable than people think. I actually wash my husband's woolen dress trews in warm on delicate, don't bother with the conditioner and then hang dry, iron inside out, set the creases and return to his closet, because dry cleaning, just ugh. Doesn't work for suits because; lining, but works fine on pants with no matching jacket.
Years ago we went to an agricultural show and spoke to a woman producing wool for all sorts of things, felting, yarn and blankets etc. She had old breeds of sheep and we got around to the subject of washing. She said said that she never washed any of her woollen products - when the items get dirty, she laid them on a muslin (proper muslin and not the cheesecloth type) sheet and just rolled it into a tube. The natural fibres and the remaining lanolin would expel the dirt and I think a week later you unroll it and find the dirt has transferred to the muslin sheet - and you wash that instead! Sooooo - I still wash blankets and jumpers LOL! Thank you - interesting experiment - amazing the way it went skewiff!
That is a fascinating method!! I want to try it out 🤓
@@hobknobcreations4737 - I'm beginning to wonder if it was a week! It may have been longer. But as she had plenty of wool surrounding her, she could rotate the items easily! I'm still too chicken to do it!
I was very afraid to wash wool before watching this, as i had just bought my first amount for a woolen dress. Now I'm slightly less worried. :) Thanks ~
A cool dry will also take longer, leaving it to tumble more and get mechanically affected by the dryer, so maybe that's why it's fluffier?
Morgan, congratulations on joining us laz...efficient folk with rotary cutters! They're amazing. My issue with them though is they go dull so fast... does anyone have any maintenance tips?
As a knitter and spinner, my usual routine with hand-knit fabrics is to fill a sink with cool water and add a bit of SOAK or Eucalan wool wash. You don't need much to get the job done. You can also use a mild baby shampoo. Wool is hair, after all. You can always scale up the size of the tub/amount of detergent for the size of the garment. As with standard washing, don't mix your colours in case there's dye transfer/bleed.
Soak the garment for about 15 minutes without agitation. When your timer goes off, let out the water & gently squeeze out any excess. Roll up in towels to squeeze out even more.
Lay flat on towels or those foam floor mats they give small children. Block to the size/shape of the garment and let air-dry.
Don't hang dry. You'll just warp the fabric.
My Mum and I (she's a sewer) have also used these techniques with home-sewn stroud & melton cloth (wool) Parkas. Seems to work well. :)
I just discovered this video, and not half an hour ago I put a lovely 4 yards of plaid into the wash for my first garment sewing project. The thumbnail terrified me, not gonna lie
A few years ago I purchased a couple lengths of silk brocade in New York's Chinatown. It was a beautiful yellow with a gold figure. I plunged in and washed it, in cold water, I think it was. It's now cream color with a gold figure.
Oh, well, it didn't shrink, at least. I'm still trying to decide to make it into.
In Fashion school they told us that you should never, ever wash wool, not the fabric and neither the finished garment. We were told to bring a wool garment to a professional dry-cleaner if it is stained.
I never had to wash a wool garment yet, but heard the worst horror stories about it as well, my teacher told me that wool could actually turn to felt when washed with hot water.
But what can go wrong when you test it first?
Anyway, thank you for the video, it was very interesting :)
It's so interesting to hear that kind of thing - I was a knitter long before I started sewing, and knitters think nothing of washing wool garments. You want to avoid rapid temperature changes and agitation, which can cause felting, but a gentle handwash and drying flat? No problem. I wonder if the differences between handknitted fabric and woven fabric really impact it that much.
@@anneclinton2928 yes, that would be interested, I basically never work with knitted fabric, next time I order swatches I will order a knitted wool, a woven wool a wool twill etc. And test that out. In the name of science 😂
@@marlenepein1604 I'd love to hear about your results!
@@anneclinton2928 I will update you :)
@@marlenepein1604 when is the update? I have heard that woven wool will hold its shape better while knitted wool can shrink a lot
I bought a pure merino wool baby blanket for my baby born August 2020. I was really tentative about using it at first, but I found a local wool producer who gave me lots of good advice. This blanket goes everywhere with this baby and has experienced lots of messes.
I wash it with Unicorn Fiber wash and rinse (special detergent for natural fibers), on delicates, in warm water, and air dry. I've had fantastic results with this
You are braver than I am! Excellent video.
love your history bounding look
Great video! Thanks!
I'm adding that pocket to my to do list. Perfect solution for a girl who wears skirts without side seams.
Due to my dust allergy I need to wash my woolen stuff, as oftwen I can and I was completely terrified how my fabrics will die in the water. I just bought last december, which I couldn't even try sewing before testing first, so thank you for sharing these methods
Unlike cotton, wool does not stop shrinking. The fact that it was prewashed and shrank X% does NOT mean you can wash it the same way again with no further shrinkage! Wool felts/fulls because it has teeny little scales in the cuticle which link up with the ones on neighboring fibers and hook the two fibers together. This process only progresses further, it doesn't ever undo itself spontaneously.
However, that doesn't mean you can't wash wool! Sheep go out in the rain and do not felt! Basically, felting is encouraged by three things: water, heat, and agitation. So I can throw any kind of wool--loose fiber, spun yarn, finished fabric--in a dye kettle full of extremely hot water, as long as I'm gently and don't let it rub together at all. If you need to rub wool for some reason--spot-cleaning a stain, say--cold water is better. And you're usually safe throwing *dry* wool fabric in a hot dryer briefly if you need to get dust and stuff off it.
But in general the best way to wash a wool garment is by laying the entire thing in a tub of hot water and whatever cleansing agent you like, then lifting it out without a lot of swishing around. You can *squeeze* the bejesus out of it, though! You can put it in a spin-only sycle of the washing machine if you want, or you can roll the whole thing up in a large cotton towel and walk on it to force the water out. Then just lay as flat as possibly to dry, patting it into shape as you go, unless you want to block something like a lace shawl really aggressively for a particular shape and airiness.
My last event had ticks.... Everything got a hot dry 😂 thank you for the awesome video!
Thanks for sharing this!