How do I wash my natural fiber garment?
You don’t have to be afraid of washing your natural fiber, Real Yarn items!
There are two things to keep in mind:
- Keep the fiber at a consistent temperature
- Avoid agitation. This includes, rubbing, scrubbing, pulling, or twisting. When wet, each individual fiber is relaxed and likely to stretch and lock with other fibers in the washing process..and we all know that felting can be the undesired result. So…
To avoid felting or shrinking follow these simple steps:
- Fill two basins with lukewarm water. Add a mild soap, such as “Wash” (from Kookaburraco.com); the other basin will be your rinse water. We’re filling both sinks at the same time to keep the temperatures consistent.
- Place the garment in the wash basin, gently pushing it to the bottom. Keep this action to a minimum: a couple of times is all that you need (remember–no agitation). Let it soak for 10 minutes or so.
- Now, we’re going to scoop and hold the garment to one side of the sink and let the water drain out; when the sink is empty, gently push/press out extra water from your item.
- Now gently scoop up your whole garment in both hands (remember, we are trying not to stretch it out) and put it in the rinse water. Push down once. Let it soak for 10 minutes or so.
- Again, scoop and hold to one side of the sink and let the water drain out between your fingers. Gently push/press extra water out. With both hands, lift and squeeze (no twisting or stretching). Lay it flat on a fresh dry bath towel. Loosely, roll the garment up in the towel. Softly, push and press the towel roll to remove extra water (again, no twisting).
- Unroll the towel and carefully lay out your garment on another dry towel. Gently reshape the item to desired shape and size. Allow it to air-dry.
Remember the two keys and delight in your handmade natural fiber items!
Knitted, crocheted or woven projects can be used regularly and enjoyed for years.
Tags: felting, Kookaburraco, natural fiber, natural fiber cleaning
This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 31st, 2009 at 6:16 am and is filed under Natural Fiber Care. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.