My “Rocky Shore” Throw just hanging out.
Hello and welcome to my cosy blog! I promised you a post on how to take care of a wool blanket (or anything made of wool, for that matter) so here I am with a beautiful secret that will change everything.
There is much advice on the best way to care for wool. 90% of my wardrobe and bedding is pure wool, therefore I have vast experience with taking care of wool items. As is often the case in life, the simplest way is the most efficient and by far the easiest. Read on to discover this beautiful secret.
The Easiest Way to Clean Wool Items
Here is the secret: wool is self-cleaning. You just don’t need to wash it—ever. I was amazed the first time I heard that, because I have tried many different techniques and products to clean wool. Most of them are either very time-consuming, very expensive, or do not yield satisfying results. In the worst case scenario, my beloved wool items would shrink and felt, and when you get to that stage there is no going back… it’s off to the craft pile… If you’re reading this post, you probably know this already and you are looking for a different solution that is safe and easy.
My "Rocky Shore" Throw looking all bright and shiny and new after a day out.
The Best Time to Clean Wool
You only need fresh air and natural light to clean wool. Isn't that great news: this is genuinely all it takes. By allowing the breeze to flow freely through the fiber, you get the deepest, easiest clean you could wish for. You can put your woollen things to self-clean outside year-round: on a breezy hot Summer day, on a still frosty Winter day, or on a drizzly day. Avoid heavy rain as it weighs too much on the yarn, which can alter the shape of the item and make it hard to dry quickly enough—more on that below.
Fresh air and sunlight have magical cleaning powers!
Put your lovely blanket, or whatever woollens you need to clean, on your laundry line, and let fresh air do the rest. I promise you that wool needs absolutely nothing else. Maybe you have noticed that sheep sometimes look really white and fluffy when a few days before they might have been covered in mud, but no one has been around to clean them. It’s because wool is self-cleaning.
It’s fun to try airing wool in different seasons and weathers. Personally my favourite is on frosty days. When the woollens come back into the house after a day in the frost, they smell so sweet and are very plump; they just love it out there!
For a Deep Clean
Spraying wool with cold water helps remove stains, smells and reshape items.
If you are looking to refresh things more deeply, for example to remove stains or smells and to reshape the item, you can do so by liberally spraying your woollens with cold water. Then let fresh air do the work. I tested that for you by resuscitating a favourite jumper which I was wearing to clean the oven (very silly idea). From its beautiful light grey colour, it had gone greasy brown and I was crestfallen. But after spraying it with cold water, leaving it in fresh air and repeating that every day for a week, the jumper is good as new. Look at it now: not a shadow of a stain, all the grease is completely gone. I call that a textile miracle! Badly stained or smelly wool will benefit from hot sun as well, so Summer is a good time to fix those items.
Phew! So pleased my jumper got a second chance!
Embrace the Drizzle
If you have a very dirty, very smelly, very deformed wool item, pick a drizzly stormy day to hang it outside and be astounded at the results! The combination of wind and cold water is sure to clean and reshape things really well with no effort on your part, as long as it can dry quickly and thoroughly afterwards (try to squeeze the water out gently without twisting the wool, and dry flat so it can keep its shape).
Reshaping
When you spray wool with water it also tightens the fibers without felting them, which means you can reshape your items and make them look brand new, even if they are old and tired. This is why the care instructions labels say “dry flat” so that the weight of wet wool does not pull the fibers and deform the shape. But if you simply spray the item without soaking it or if you take advantage of the drizzle, then there will be no extra water weight when you put it on the laundry line, and it will not loose its shape.
Waves and textures all present and correct after a drizzly day out!
What about the care instructions label?
All my handmade items come with their own care instructions label sewn in, where I always advise gently handwashing or dry cleaning, for people who really do want to wash wool items. I always include a card with the fresh air cleaning method though, because it is the easiest, safest and most effective, and the one I encourage people to use. It will also work for items which are not 100% wool, labeled as "mixed fibers." Fresh air, natural light and a bit of cold water are all you ever need.
Gently caring for heirloom pieces is what makes them heirlooms.
Wool is a beautifully resilient fiber. It continues to surprise me with its longevity, adapatability, extraordinary comfort and soothing warmth. I love that it only needs extra simple things to be kept in top shape. Give it a try and let me know how it goes!