How to Wash Handspun Wool Yarn

Washing your handspun wool is easy because the less you touch, it the less chance it has to felt, becoming an unusable mass.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Sink, bucket or large bowl
• Liquid dish detergent
• Brightly colored cotton or acrylic yarn
• Lukewarm water
• A drain or somewhere to pour out the the water after use
• Somewhere to hang up yarn to dry

1. Once you have wound your precious handspun into a large circular loop or skein, take 5 inch long pieces of brightly colored acrylic or cotton yarn, and tie in loose figure eight ties into the yarn skein to help keep the yarn from tangling.

2. Fill your large bowl, bucket, basin or sink with lukewarm water and a small dallop or squirt of dish detergent. Immerse your yarn skein and make sure it is fully soaked.

3. Go away for about 5 or 10 minutes. Do not allow anyone else to mess with the yarn or fill the sink with water.

4. Come back and gently remove from the water, pressing the pile of yarn together between flattened hands. Do not twist or wring as this will encourage felting.

5. Get rid of the dirty water and do another washing with a little detergent if needed. Sometimes if the wool was spun raw without any washing after shearing off the sheep, it will require repeated soapy soaks.

6. Once the last of the soapy water strs getting clear, it may be time to rinse. Run the lukewarm rinse water into the sink or basin first and then allow to soak for another 5 to 10 minutes.

7. Repeat Step 4.

8. Squeezing tightly between flattened hands press out as much moisture as possible. Hang to dry. It may drip and if you like, you can continue to squeeze out more water as it collects in the bottom loop of the skein.

Tips & Warnings

• Do not do abrupt water temperature changes as this will also encourage your handspun wool to felt.
• Do not twist or tightly wring out the skein of yarn
• Use soap or detergent that is gentle on your own skin
• Do not use Woolite as that product has a pH of at least 6 or 7. It can weaken wool fibers and dissolve them.
• Do not wash wool in extremely cold conditions as that can encourage felting. Many spinners work through the winter to spin up a fleece and then in the warmer spring weather, they wash and dye their yarns.