Washing Assistance

by Margaret
(New Zealand)

I have been given a lot of pure wool, including crepe, all of which has been purchased more than 20 years ago, which I intend to use for charity knitting.

However, to delay any matting when washed by the recipients, do you suggest that prior to passing the knitted artIcles onto the Charities concerned I should wash them beforehand?

Grateful your advice.

Thank you


Margaret N

P S I usually use the alternative wools for charity knitting

YOUR ANSWER

Washing the items before you gove them away will not prevent them from matting or shrinking should the recipient does not take care to wash them properly.

Shrinking or matting generally happens when the temperature goes from hot (for the wash) to cold when rinsing and when the wool garment is rubbed or tumbled.

So machine washing can be problematic and they should not be dried in a tumble dryer and, unfortunately, there is potential for your garments to be damaged every time they are washed.

The only thing you can do is to put a 'wool' care label inside the garment. You can sometimes buy these in small packs in craft stores, but there is no guarantee that the person doing the washing will read it.

Sorry...