Sunday, December 20, 2020

It’s Wool Season...©

 

Wool blankets and clothes, photograph by the Author.


 
This article can be used by experimental archaeologists, re-enactors or historical trekkers of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, or by anyone who is interested in wilderness survival or camping – Author’s note.

 

Let’s face it, if you are a re-enactor, an experimental archaeologist, or a historical trekker of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, you are going to be wearing a lot of wool this winter.  If you are a modern-day adventurer, you are probably going to be wearing wool or a wool blend, because wool is so good at keeping you warm even if it gets wet, during these cold winter months. 

 

So, it’s wool season...but how are you going to wash all that wool?  You could take it to a drycleaner, but that would get expensive and you sure can’t just throw it into a washing machine!  Or can you?!

 

A whisk broom, used for brushing the dirt off wool blankets and clothes.  Photograph by the Author.


However, before you wash that wool, brush it with a whisk broom to remove as much dirt from your woolens as you can.
  Brushing it with a whisk broom will also help to raise the nap or fuzziness of the wool cloth.  The nap helps to trap heat inside the wool blanket or garment.

 

The washing instructions found on a British military, 100% wool blanket, photograph by the Author.


I bought a
British military, 100% wool blanket, a couple of years ago.  It came with hand wash AND machine wash instructions! 

 

Which one should you choose, you might ask?  That’s a good question, so let’s talk about it.

 


From the British Ministry of Information, Make Do and Mend, originally published in 1943 and republished in 2007, page 18.

 

Traditionally, and perhaps conservatively, most sources recommend hand washing, and the blanket I bought did have hand washing instructions.  Also, I found two other sources on how to hand wash woolens, one from the British Ministry of Information and the other by C. J. Wilde from Wilde Weavery1.  Both, of these two sources have more detail on how to successfully hand wash your wool blankets or clothes, than the tag on my wool blanket has.  From these sources, here is how you go about handwashing those woolens.

 

Fill a tub or bathtub with warm water and dissolving the soap in the water, before putting the wool items to be washed, into the water. 

 

Never let running water fall onto the wool, as it can cause spot felting.  Wool felting occurs when warm soapy water compresses the nap and other wool fibers and hooks them together.  Felting can also occur if you rub or twist the wool while washing it, so don’t do it!

 

The British Ministry of Information had some good advice for us, when they suggested that you wash each item separately, starting with the lightest colored one, first.

 

Also, according to the Ministry of Information, you should squeeze the wool to work the soap through it and you should never lift it out of the wash water while washing it, as the weight of the water might stretch the woolens.

 

Rinse the woolens in clean water, by squeezing the wool, until all the soap is worked out of it and the soap is rinsed away.  This might take several changes of water.  When you change the water, be careful to not let the fresh water pour on your woolens, as this might cause felting.  Again, never lift the woolens out of the rinse water while rinsing, as the weight of the water might stretch your woolens. When you have worked out all the soap and have finished rinsing, lift the entire blanket or garment out of the water at the same time as a bundle, squeezing as much water as you can from the woolens as you do.

 

However, you won’t be able to squeeze out all the rinse water, and so C.J. Wilde suggested that the easiest way to remove the remaining water from your blanket or wool clothes, after squeezing it, is to spin it in a washing machine on a final spin.  Remember to never let rinse water to fall onto the woolens while it is spinning as, again, that might cause felting. 

 

The British Ministry of Information suggested rolling the items in clean towels, to absorb the excess water, before laying them out flat to dry.  Although the Ministry of Information doesn’t say it, I would lay the woolens out on different clean towel to finish drying.

 

Interestingly, the Ministry of Information says to, “Never hang woollens clothes, or they may stretch”, because of the water weight.  Apparently however, when you spin the water out of woolens in a washing machine spin cycle, it removes enough water that it is okay to hang them over a padded clothesline or rail, according to C. J. Wilde. 

 

If you are drying a blanket, C. J. Wilde recommends taking the additional step of blocking the blanket to keep it square.

 

It is necessary to block the wool blanket in order to square it back to its original shape.  Spread the wool blanket out and gently shape it, folding it lengthwise on its center seam.  Wrap this wet blanket around a clean wood board starting at one end and neatly rolling it until only the ends of the board stick out each side.  After it has blocked for several hours, unwrap it and drape the blanket over a clothes line padded with old towels or over the rail of a deck to dry.

 

Additionally, C. J. Wilde in her article on caring for wool, noted that you need to let the woolens air dry, even after they feel dry to the touch, as wool retains moistures which cannot be felt with your hand.

 


Photograph by the Author.

 

I have washed my British military, 100% wool blanket several times, using the instructions on it and a washing machine, and I have had good results.  I have also washed some 100% wool coats using these same instructions, and again, I have had good results.

 

When following these instructions for machine washing woolens, I always set my washing machine to “Knits Gentle, Light”, since the instructions call for “warm, minimum wash”, and I fill the washing machine up with warm water, first.  Next, I put the soap in and give it time to dissolve, before I put my woolens in. 

 

Once I put the woolens in, since my washing machine on “Knits Gentle, Light” does not agitate, I plunge them up and down several times to make sure that they are thoroughly soaked in the soapy water and then I turn off the washer and walk away for a while, so that the soap has a chance to work. 

 

When I come back, I turn the washing machine back on and wait while the washing machine to goes through its cycle, because you must stop the washer before it gets to the rinse cycle, so that your wool isn’t felted by the rinse water pouring on it.  On my washing machine, the rinse cycle starts when the dial rotates to the “•”, which is to the left of the “Knits Gentle, Light” label.  It might be different on your washing machine, I recommend a “dry” run, with an empty machine to figure out the washer cycle before you machine wash your woolens the first time.

 

What I do when it gets to the rinse cycle and I have stopped the washer, is take the woolens out and put them into a clean laundry bucket and start the washer cycle over again by turning the dial back around to “Knits Gentle, Light” and filling the washer back up with water, putting the woolens back in, plunging them up and down, soaking them in the soap free water and then letting the washer run until it gets to the rinse cycle again, before stopping the washer and doing it all over again: rinse and repeat, three times.

 

Photograph by the Author.


After that, if I am washing a blanket, I block it and after several hours, I unblock it and drape it over a drying rack to finish drying.
  With clothes, I skip the blocking step and simply drape them over my drying rack to dry.  If you don’t have a drying rack, you can dry your woolens over a towel padded clothes line, a wide wooden rail or by laying them flat on clean towels.

 

So, this winter wool season, when you have to wash your matchcoat and all the rest of that wool, I hope that this helps.

 

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at Bandanaman Productions for other related videos, HERE.  Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube.  If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site.  I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

 

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

 

 

Notes

 

1 CARE INSTRUCTIONS FOR HANDWOVEN WOOL BLANKETS AND MATCHCOATS

 

A handwoven wool blanket can always be dry cleaned by a professional cleaner, but it is not difficult to clean it at home using the bath tub.

Draw warm water in the tub mixing a liquid soap in the running water.  Place blanket in the water and let it soak, gently working water through it to loosen any dirt.  Move the blanket to the far end of the tub whenever running more water into the tub.  Repeat washings if needed and rinse with clear, warm water until all the soap is removed.  Be careful not to let the water run on the blanket at any time as this could cause spot felting of the wool.

The easiest way to remove excess water from the clean blanket is to spin it in a washing machine on the final spin.  Distribute wet blanket evenly around the sides of the machine and spin--DO NOT USE ANY WATER.  When spinning stops, remove blanket for blocking.

It is necessary to block the wool blanket to square it back to its original shape.  Spread the wool blanket out and gently shape it, folding it lengthwise on its center seam.  Wrap this wet blanket around a clean wood board starting at one end and neatly rolling it until only the ends of the board stick out each side.  After it has blocked for several hours, unwrap it and drape the blanket over a clothes line padded with old towels or over the rail of a deck to dry.

Allow the blanket to continue to air dry after it feels dry, as wool retains moisture that can't be detected by feel.

 

From “Care Instructions For Handwoven Wool Blankets And Matchcoats”, by C.J. Wilde, unfortunately this website no longer exists and so I have reprinted it here in its entirety.

 

Sources

 

Ministry of Information, Make Do and Mend, [Originally printed for the Board of Trade, His Majesty’s Stationary Office, London, 1943; Republished by Sabrestorm Publishing, Sevenoaks, Kent, 2007], page 18

 

Wilde, C.J.; “Care Instructions For Handwoven Wool Blankets And Matchcoats”, http://www.wildeweavery.com/blanket_care_instructions.htm, accessed April 1, 2008

 

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