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Washing Instructions for Wool and/or Cotton Garments For wool and wool/mohair garments and afghans, I recommend using the washing machine - with a few provisions:
There can be no agitation, even "gentle cycle" has too much agitation The garment must be soaked and spun using cool water. Fill the washer with cool water. Dissolve a mild soap or detergent. then add the garment. Let it sit. You may move it around a bit with your hands if you want. After 15 minutes or so, spin out the wash water. Spinning wool in one direction is fine, it is the back and forth motion of agitation that causes matting and shrinkage. Add cool rinse water and a fabric softener. After 15 minutes or so, spin out the water. Dry flat. In the winter, I lay a sheet on the floor and let the piece dry overnight. For cotton, again I recommend the washing machine and cool water, this time using the gentle cycle. Again dry flat or line dry. The exception to this is chenille garments which always must be hand washed with care or dry cleaned. Washing wool is preferable to dry cleaning, as the chemicals dry out and weaken the fibers. |