Our advice for keeping your projects looking their best.
In general, hand-dyed yarns can be cared for in the same way as commercially dyed yarns and commercially made wool garments – these tips apply to all. With the right care, your handmade items can bring you joy for decades to come.
We use professional dyes and strict quality control procedures to ensure colours are properly fixed. With particularly bold shades (both commercial and hand-dyed), there is sometimes a possibility of colour bleeding or transfer. By following our recommendations, the risks should be minimal. If you are ever in doubt, test your washing process with a small yarn snippet or swatch first.
In this guide
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Blocking
Blocking is a process of shaping a knitted or crocheted item while damp, to relax the fibres, even out stitches and help define features like lace. If you’re new to blocking, we recommend this comprehensive guide.
To block or not to block? Blocking is not compulsory – if your project involves lace stitches or stranded colourwork, then we’d recommend it; otherwise, it’s a matter of personal preference.
Since a pre-blocking soak is likely to be an item’s first encounter with water, we have some tips to ensure this stage goes smoothly.
- Use a bucket, bowl or basin large enough to comfortably submerge the item.
- Check your water temperature. A comfortable hand temperature can be as high as 40°C, which is too hot for some of our yarns and dyes. If in doubt, use cold water.
- Optional: Add a drop of liquid hand soap to reduce surface tension and aid wetting. Don’t add any other products at this stage.
- Gently agitate the item while it’s in the water.
- If you see any colour transfer to the water, remove the item from the water and prepare some fresh water, this time with some detergent (see below). This will help hold any stray dye particles in the water and prevent them from transferring to other areas of the fabric.
- Superwash wool (especially merino) is very absorbent; a 5-10 minute soak is sufficient for this.
- You can use a gentle washing machine spin cycle to remove excess water. Place the item in a delicates bag if you feel it needs extra protection.
Washing
Wool is naturally odour-resistant and breathable, and you will find that wool garments don’t need washing as often as garments made from plant fibres or synthetics. How often you wash your woollens is a matter of personal preference, but since it adds to wear and tear, it’s a good idea to keep it to a minimum. However, we always recommend washing items you are putting away at the end of the season.
As with all laundry, wash similar colours together.
Neon colours
Shades that use neon dyes will have a note on the label and may also have been sent with a special care card. Neon dyes are not as colour-fast as regular dyes. To keep them looking their brightest and best, we recommend handwashing them in cold water, even if the yarn itself is machine-washable. Neons should be dried and stored away from direct sunlight.
Washing recommendations for regular colours vary based on the type of fibre:
Superwash wool
Our wool yarns labelled ‘superwash‘ are machine washable on a wool programme at 30°C. It may surprise you that we recommend machine washing; modern machines are more water- and energy-efficient than handwashing, and more reliable at maintaining the correct temperature. Only use a dedicated wool programme designed to keep garments fully submerged during agitation to prevent fibre damage. Use a mesh bag for delicate items that might benefit from extra protection.
If your machine doesn’t have a wool programme, or it has a history of eating clothes, follow the handwashing instructions instead.
Silk blends
Our silk and superwash wool blends can be machine-washed on a dedicated silk programme at 30°C. Use mesh bags for extra protection.
Non-superwash wool & alpaca
These yarns should be handwashed in tepid water (see below). It is essential to use enough water to fully submerge items and to ensure they are immersed while being agitated. Non-superwash yarns are naturally water-repellent and take longer to wet than superwash yarns.
Hand washing
If you are hand washing, take care to use tepid water. It should be cooler than you would want for a bath, 30°c is little colder than is comfortable without gloves.
Keep items gently agitated in the water rather than leaving them to sit; five minutes should be enough unless they are particularly dirty (in which case, repeat the wash with fresh water). Rinse with cold water. A gentle machine spin programme can be used to remove excess water before drying.
Detergent & fabric conditioner
It is essential to use an appropriate detergent when washing wool, silk and other protein fibres. We recommend Ecover Delicate Laundry Liquid as we’ve been using this on our own garments for many years without issue. There are several brands of dedicated wool & silk detergent widely available at supermarkets, and these should also do a fine job, although we haven’t personally tested them.
We strongly recommend avoiding leave-in wool wash products (e.g. Soak and Eucalan), as they can be quite acidic and are known to react with dyes, causing colour bleeding. They’re also expensive – save your money!
General-purpose detergents should not be used on woollen items. Biological detergents contain enzymes that digest protein-based food stains, and over time, these enzymes can damage protein fibres. Regular non-bio detergents typically contain bleaching agents to replace the enzymes, which can fade colours.
You can use fabric conditioner as you would for a regular wash. Manufacturers claim that fabric conditioner can help wool maintain its natural elasticity, reducing wear and pilling (bobbling). We have no idea if that’s true, but it certainly adds extra softness to wool.
Drying
Wool can hold a lot of water, making the fabric heavy and prone to becoming misshapen. It’s a good idea to remove excess water after handwashing by rolling the garment in a towel or using a washing machine’s slow spin cycle. Never wring out a woollen garment as it can cause fabric to stretch and distort.
Knitted garments should be dried flat, preferably on a mesh sweater dryer that lets air circulate on all sides. We like this foldable mesh dryer*, which can be placed over a bathtub or an airer. Stacking and hanging mesh shelf dryers are also available. A thick towel on the floor will do if that’s what’s available. Never dry knitwear on a coat hanger, as this is likely to cause the garment to become permanently misshapen.
Air drying is the most gentle and energy-efficient way to dry knitwear. Our yarns have not been tested in a tumble dryer. The additional abrasion and heat of tumble drying will shorten a garment’s lifespan and, in the worst case, cause immediate damage – tumble at your own risk!
Storage
Knitwear should be freshly laundered and completely dry before being stored flat and folded. If stored on a coat hanger for any length of time, knitted garments are likely to stretch across the neck and shoulders.
What to store woollens in is a matter of some debate. Our recommendation depends on your environment: If you have very high humidity and are absolutely certain that you have no fabric pests, store in a dry place that’s dust-free or protected with something breathable (e.g. a cotton bag). In all other circumstances, store items in sealed bags. Conventional wisdom is that wool will be harmed if it can’t ‘breathe’, but in all my years of experience, no wool has ever been harmed in an airtight bag. Every instance of damage I have had has been the result of being left accessible to beasties.
Large grip-seal bags are ideal for storing woollens; it’s worth keeping hold of them if they come your way as packaging (check them for holes). Zip-up packing cubes of solid fabric (not mesh) are also an excellent option. We recommend this set of clothes bags from IKEA; the larger bag can fit a sweater or two, and the smaller ones are great for socks and accessories. If you sew, making your own would be an excellent way to use scrap fabric. Some knitwear brands offer their own, such as these transparent zipped storage bag from Brora, which is a more expensive option but allows the contents to be visible.
If you do have problems with fabric pests, it becomes more important not to leave worn items unwashed for extended periods, as pests are attracted to dust, sweat, and food stains.
