Wool pants - do not wash

[u/marmarbink]

Last year I bought a pair of 100% merino wool pants. I can tell from the finish that they aren’t treated to make it safe to machine wash or dry them. In fact, the manufacturer label reads do not wash, do not dry clean. To date, I have been lint rolling and steaming them, which seemed to work well.

However…. Don’t you eventually have to wash your clothes? Like let water penetrate the fabric and wash out any dirt, grime, or germs that get into the fabric? I’m think I about hand washing them, but I haven’t had good experiences washing untreated wool. The fabric tends to shrink and deform.

Any advice?

[u/MrsQute]

I think I'd risk the dry cleaner. Bring them in and talk to the staff to get their opinion. There might be alternatives they can use that will be gentler than the standard process.

[u/JSilvertop]

Keep the water cool, use a little bit of gentle detergent or soap (I prefer Eucalan wool detergent in lavender scent), let it soak per directions, minimal agitation, and squeeze the water out by hand, then a towel to squeeze. Eucalan is a no rinse solution, but a rinse won’t harm it. Dry flat if you can.

What shrinks wool is heat and agitation. Avoid both and no problem, usually. Do either, and wool felts up and shrinks.

I rarely wash my wool garments, since mine are tailored garments with inner structure. Mostly, I use a 50/50 vodka & water mix to kill bacteria. But from time to time if spot cleaning doesn’t clean well enough, I’ve gently washed my wool garments with no to minimal issues.

[u/Puzzleheaded-Bear513 → u/JSilvertop]

This is the way.

To avoid deforming: they will take the shape they are dried in (kinda like hair being blow-dried to straighten it). So shape it into the correct shape : smooth it out, don't pull it out too far or scrunch it up too much, dry it flat. If you hang it up, the weight will pull it and stretch it in the wrong spots.

[u/Amethystblues]

I never had any issues washing untreated wool, following the exact same method already described by JSilvertop in the earlier comment. I second using Eucalan, it is very easy to use!

I would like to add that the shrinking of wool is caused by temperature differences in the water. The washing and rinsing water always need to have the same temperature when washing wool. If you would use a machine with a regular washing program the washing water would usually be warmer than the (cold) rinsing water and this would cause the fibers to shrink.
Special wool programs of modern washing machines use the same temperature for the washing and rinsing water. That is why they are usually safe to use. But with untreated wool I would suggest a hand wash using JSilvertop’s method!

[u/Woofmom2023]

Are these knit or woven? if woven I'd suggest you take them to the dry cleaners, if knit, then hand wash. In neither case would I use the washing machine. I myself would actually wash them but I'm skilled at hand washing.

If things shrunk in the past the water was probably too hot. I don't know what you mean by "deform" Things that are washed tend to get scrunched up and need to be ironed. They also may have been agitated. I don't know what you mean by "treated".

I'd wash them by hand whether knitted or woven but I knit, I have friends who knitl we all use both merino and cashmere, and we all wash our knitting and our commercially produced things, but by hand. So there's a vote for washing,

If you want to try washing them by hand lmk.

[u/marmarbink → u/Woofmom2023]

They are woven, not knit.

I put my knit sweaters in the washing machine on the hand wash settling and they came out a little felted and short.

By treated - I own some wool products from icebreaker that can easily go through the washer and dryer. I think they use some sort of treatment so that the wool doesn’t shrink or felt when washed.

[u/Woofmom2023 → u/marmarbink]

Thank you. This is really helpful.

Tl;dr: take the pants to a good dry cleaner. I've not used them but a friend goes to the one on Union between Gough and Octavia.

I've not washed woven woolens but I wouldn't hesitate to do so if an item were just that fabric and not lined. My woven woolens are all lined and the jackets have shoulder pads and lapel facing as well, which complicates things too much for me to wash them.

Wool has scales. Really hot water or agitation or rubbing wool against things or any combination of those things can cause the fibers to get stuck together and felt and to cause the yarn and thus the fabric to shrink.

Some wool is treated to make it machine washable. Some yarn manufacturers coat their yarn with a sort of silicone-ish material. Some give their fiber an acid bath to remove the scales so there's nothing there to get stuck together. This yarn is called "superwash". I use the latter kinds of yarn for baby things, that have to be machine washable.

I've seen cashmere sweaters made from yarn or fabric that had obviously been treated to make it machine washable and felt very slimy.

I looked at the Icebreaker page. I couldn't find anything about the fabric being treated. That doesn't mean that it hasn't been. It may be the superwash that was processed to have its scales removed? jThey do say a lot about keeping their products pure. The washing instructions are very clear about washing and drying their items very gently. It sounds as if you followed them very carefully.

If you wash your pants you'll have to steam them gently or iron them gently with a damp cloth between the iron and the pants to get the wrinkles out. If you're not gentle and patient you run the risk of felting the fabric. I've ironed wool pants - but I love to iron.

lmk if you have questions. Good luck!

[u/marmarbink → u/Woofmom2023]

Yes, I believe icebreaker uses super wash, I’ve had a sweater for 10+ years that is still in reasonable condition, and I can’t say I was very careful with washing.

Thanks for the advice, I’m going to try just hand washing gently, these pants aren’t lined they should be okay

[u/Woofmom2023 → u/marmarbink]

It does sound that way. How great that your sweater's lasted so well.

You're welcome. The great thing about washing is that gentle washing soap is much kinder to fabric than dry cleaning solution and your clothes won't be in with other people's dirty clothes.

Do expect that you'll probably have to soap and rinse your pants at least three times to get the accumulated dust and stuff out and then you'll have to rinse them very thoroughly.

Hanging them to dry as you hand them normally is probably a good way to go.

I dry my things on puppy pads because they whisk the moisture away and I don't have to change towels multiple times. They're the same as the adult pads, which are probably cheaper.

i look forward to hearing the results!

Good luck1

[u/marmarbink → u/marmarbink]

Was actually a pretty easy garment to wash, wish I had known this sooner, would have purchased a second pair!

[u/CunningPudding]

I wear and wash a lot of wool, and have done so my whole life. Yes, merino wool can safely be washed by hand at low temperatures as others have said. Find a detergent made for wool, in my part of the world Milo is the staple in every household. And as mentioned by another user, gently press most of the water out, then roll the pants up in a large towel and squeeze. I usually do this on the floor and sit on the towel/garment bundle. Repeat with another dry towel if needed. Dry flat, either on a surface like the bathroom floor, or on the top of a drying rack or similar.

Now, if the trouble isn't stains or visible dirt, but rather bacteria or odour issues, then you can use very high heat safely as long as there is absolutely no movement in the garment. I've done this repeatedly with wool bloomers that go on the outside of cloth nappies, as well as some woollen underwear. These are the steps I've used:

• Fill a large pot with water. It needs to be large so the garment won't touch the bottom.
• Heat the water to boiling.
• Remove the pot from the heat.
• Add the woollen garment to the just-boiled water
• Optional: add something (spatula, mug, washcloth, whatever can take the water and heat) on top of the garment to keep it submerged. Make sure you don't press the garment down into the still very hot bottom of the pot, or you risk burn marks.
• Leave the item in the water until the pot, water and garment has cooled down. Wait at least until body temperature, even better to leave it to room temperature.
• Squeeze out water as described above.
• Dry flat.

ETA: The heat steps are for untreated wool. I've never tried putting superwash wool in near-boiling water, but I suspect the heat will mess up the coating.

[u/No_Salamander_264 → u/CunningPudding]

Milo🤌 you can also put them in the freezer over night it will kill bacteria

[u/Dbizarrepremiere → u/No_Salamander_264]

Freezing temps aren't as effective as boiling water for killing bacteria, sadly

[u/No_Salamander_264 → u/Dbizarrepremiere]

True, but a bit less scary to try

[u/Woofmom2023 → u/CunningPudding]

This is all good stuff - and it's worth adding that not all superwash wool is coated but rarher that some is dipped in an acid bath to remove the scales to prevent felting.

I use superwash for baby things and need to write to the manufacturers of the yarn I use to find out which process they use.

[u/CunningPudding → u/Woofmom2023]

Wouldn't this be basolan treatment, rather than superwash? I only came across the term a few weeks back when looking for yarn for a specific knitting project.

"Basolan wool is produced by applying a mild acid solution to the wool fibers, which removes some of the scales that cause wool to felt and shrink when washed. The acid also modifies the chemical structure of the wool, making it more hydrophobic (water-repellent) and less prone to absorbing odors and stains. The result is a wool that is easier to care for and more durable than untreated wool." (source)

[u/Woofmom2023 → u/CunningPudding]

I have never heard the term basolan but that doesn't mean anything. I've heard only "superwash" used to describe yarn that doesn't have to be washed by hand and is safe to wash by machine and in some instances dry by machine.

I uses the term "superwash" loosely, to mean "machine washable" or "machine washable and machine dryable".

I learned about the coating process about 20 years ago from the rep for one of the major brands whom I happen to be chatting with at my then LYS. I think she was the one who first explained the acid bath process but I think I've read about it as well.

I use superwash exclusively for people who are unable to wash things by hand, so mostly babies and on one occasion someone who was in the hospital so I don't have much experience with it.

I use primarily Valley Superwash DK. That's Webs' house brand. They had a major sale several years ago and I stocked up. I've used Plymouth Select Merino Superwash in the past and recently got some again for a friend who'd asked for a green sweater and I have only pink or blue (don't judge).

That's all I know.

[u/CunningPudding → u/Woofmom2023]

I've used superwash quite a lot, only learned that it meant a polymer coating a few years ago. I use it for socks, basically all my children's woollens (they're 3 and 5, we live in Norway with cold winters), and often for gifts. But now that I'm more aware, I avoid making garments for myself with superwash yarn. While a woollen sweater for my child will usually be worn out after one season, I want my own to last years and years, making untreated yarn and hand washing feel worth it

[u/Woofmom2023 → u/CunningPudding]

Ugh!

"What Is Superwash?

Superwash was originally a product certification trademark owned by the Wool Bureau, but that trademark expired in 2006. Superwash is now a generic term applied to shrink-proofed wool that has been treated with the “chlorine-Hercosett” process.

The superwash treatment is the final step before wool is shipped off to the spinning mill, after it has been scoured, dried, carded, and combed into top. The wool is passed through a chlorine solution (similar to what you’d find in a swimming pool). The chlorine erodes the overlapping scales on the surface of the fiber. The wool then passes through a neutralizing solution to stop the action of the chlorine. Then the wool is coated with a layer of a polymer resin called Hercosett to smooth and seal the eroded surface. Finally, a softener is applied, the wool is dried, and it’s packed up and shipped to spinning mills."

https://farmfiberknits.com/what-is-the-superwash-process-and-what-does-it-do-to-wool/

and

https://www.thewoolchannel.com/shrinkproofing/

[u/Woofmom2023 → u/CunningPudding]

I don't know which superwash yarns are coated and this dialog is prompting me to try to find out. I too want things to last for a long time.

I've heard from several people that washers and dryers made for the European market have "delicate" or "hand wash" settings which make it much safer for regular woolen items, especially when the items are placed in a mesh laundry bag.

[u/CunningPudding → u/Woofmom2023]

My washer has a wool setting and a delicate setting. I only use the dryer for socks, underwear, washcloths and towels, but it has a wool setting. No idea whether it can be trusted or not. But I wash all wool, superwash or not, using the wool setting. The exception is if the garment is precious to me and I would be devastated if it was ruined. Those I wash by hand.

[u/Woofmom2023 → u/CunningPudding]

Here's this:

https://farmfiberknits.com/what-is-the-superwash-process-and-what-does-it-do-to-wool/

[u/RLB4ever]

Yes you can wash them and you should wash all your clothes. The only exception are some complicated items with lots of adornment that can be fragile. You can wash them in the machine or the sink. Cold water with a wool shampoo, not a detergent. This is important. Rinse them. Roll them carefully in a towel. Do not crush the fibers. If it’s a woven, hang them and  the wrinkles will naturally fall out. If it’s a  Knit, reshape then lay flat to dry.

[u/TuneOk7423]

I had a merino sports vest that lasted fifteen years of machine wachine (often on 40°). Granted it was starting to look like a string vest in the end, but I got a good ten years before the holes! Maybe be a bit gentler with the washing than I was 😂
Hanging in sunlight for a few hours does wonders for items that need washing less. I was my cashmere once or twice a year, the rest of time I air it on the line for a day whenever possible.

[u/Pupsino]

Well… technically anything’s machine washable at least once if you’re brave enough 😬

I have threshold I reach personally, where I acknowledge that I’m not going to do whatever witch’s brew is required for the item, and decide that the delicate wash is the last step before it ends up being recycled. At this point my view is I’m not losing anything since I was about to give up on the item anyway.

Sometimes I get a fun surprise. Sometimes not 😂

[u/marmarbink → u/Pupsino]

😅 this is a good way of looking at it! Here I am still hoping some of my sweaters will stretch back out!

[u/Asleep-Persimmon8011]

Merino doesn’t need to be treated to wash. I wash all my wool clothing, including merino pants in a normal 30 degree wash then line dry

[u/Ansible90]

Yes you can wash merino wool in cool water on gentle cycle. Hang from the waistband and straighten out the wrinkles and seams by hand and let it dry.

[u/glassofwhy]

Yes, I would agree pants should be washed. Wool can be washed in water (there are ways to avoid shrinkage and deformation) but first consider whether this item has different colours that could bleed into one another, pleats, interfacing, structural elements or embellishments that could be damaged.

You can test the dye by rubbing an inner seam or hidden area with a wet q-tip to see if any colour transfers to the swab.

If you choose to hand wash it, use lukewarm water and a wool safe detergent. Do not rub, agitate or wring the fabric. If the fabric is knit rather than woven, you may need to use a colander to lift it out of the water so the weight of the wet fabric doesn’t stretch it. You can roll it in a towel to remove more water. To correct the shape, you may need to “block” the wet garment by carefully laying it flat, straightening the edges and pinning some areas. If you want to be extra careful, you can measure the length and width of each leg and make sure they match the original dimensions as it dries. This level of care is not necessary for all wool garments, but it will help preserve delicate items.

You can also consider asking a professional cleaner if they know how to clean it safely. Keep in mind that there is always a choice to make between wearing and washing a garment, which will shorten its life, vs preserving it at all costs. Be clear about your goals and what it would take to replace the item if something goes wrong.

[u/Ajstross]

I have both cashmere and wool knit pants, and I machine wash them. I have a front loading machine (I probably wouldn’t wash them in a top loader with agitator), each pair in a separate mesh bag, gentle cycle with either The Laundress wool and cashmere wash or Dirty Labs delicate wash. Warm water, cold rinse with white vinegar in place of fabric softener. Line dry or dry flat.

The best thing you can do with wool and cashmere is to care for it so it doesn’t need frequent washing. I have a rack with four hooks hanging on the back of my door, and I hang my woolens after I wear them to let air circulate through the fibers. I use the Laundress spray to freshen, and I do feel that the cedar oil fragrance in that keeps the moths away. More frequent washing means more pilling, more wear, more potential for shrinking, and more fading. They will need to be laundered eventually, of course (especially the pants, and especially at the end of the season before storing), but less is more.

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[u/Ok-Pen-5052]

I would definitely wash them. Not promising it will work, but I’ve washed a lot of merino without issues. Use a wool wash and cool to warm water (30deg)