Felting question

[Brisen]

I'm trying to felt some wool sweaters and not having much luck. Two are lambswool and don't seem to be felting at all; two are 100% wool and are finally starting to shrink. I have a font-load washing machine and I'm doing hot wash/cold rinse on a cottons/towels cycle, then drying on the highest heat in my dryer. I have the sweaters individually in pillow cases to keep fuzz under control and those little dryer ball things in the dryer. Will putting jeans (or something similar) in the washer really make a big difference? I've run them through three cycles now, and they aren't felting much. I felted sweaters once before and it only took one cycle, but it was a top load machine; would that make a difference?

[Think of Winter]

Some yarns just won't felt. If it's superwash/washable wool, it's not going to, and some white yarns won't either. Some sturdy yarns just take more abuse before felting. It took 3-4 hot washes to felt my peace fleece. You can amp up the felting by getting the water as hot as possible (crank up the hot water heater a half hr before starting) and allowing it to agitate until it's felted. Doing the cold rinse during felting is not necessary, you just need heat and friction. Using just enough water to cover it will help, too, since a lot of water will reduce the friction. You want things rubbing. I don't have a front loader, so I don't know how best to achieve that.

[rn]

I have had success felting in a front loader by putting whatever it is in the machine with a pair of my dh's jeans... (for more friction). he is a big man, so one pair of jeans work great. If I were using my jeans I would probably put in two pairs.

try it

[spinspin]

Fill up that load! It will help. A lot.

S.

[KimberMama]

Originally Posted by Brisen

I'm trying to felt some wool sweaters and not having much luck. Two are lambswool and don't seem to be felting at all; two are 100% wool and are finally starting to shrink. I have a font-load washing machine and I'm doing hot wash/cold rinse on a cottons/towels cycle, then drying on the highest heat in my dryer. I have the sweaters individually in pillow cases to keep fuzz under control and those little dryer ball things in the dryer. Will putting jeans (or something similar) in the washer really make a big difference? I've run them through three cycles now, and they aren't felting much. I felted sweaters once before and it only took one cycle, but it was a top load machine; would that make a difference?

I felt thrifted wool sweaters and they are all so different. Some will go from XL to toddler sized in one wash, some will never get smaller than a misses medium. One thing that helps with my front loader it to use Woolite rather than HE detergent. Not too much, but enough to get sudsy. My regular HE detergent isn't very sudsy, and the soap is part of the wet felt processing. If something doesn't felt well the first time I put it on a longer wash setting (heavy, I think).

I find that the felting happens in the washer, not the dryer so much. I generally air dry any pieces that I've knit myself.

[flapjack]

For some unknown reason, my sweaters seem to felt better on the hottest synthetic program than they do on a cottons one; the 90 degree wash doesn't seem to work. I just keep mine in the machine throughout different loads of laundry until I'm fed up. Two days will kill most sweaters.

[PJsmomma]

So what goodies do you make with a felted sweater?:

[Brisen]

Thanks for all of the tips everyone!

I wasn't using any soap at all; can I use Eucalan instead of Woolite?

I managed to get two of the sweaters that were felting a bit to felt some more, but they only seemed to shrink in the dryer. I have a feeling our hot water doesn't get hot enough, and probably I didn't have enough other stuff in the washer for good agitation; the front loaders are gentler on clothes, I think.

I tried felting a couple of pot holders that I crocheted from paton's merino in a pot of boiling water on the stove. They didn't felt at all in the hot water, but in the dryer with a few other things did the trick, though it took a while. I would like to get the hang of felting in the washer, though, because I have a feeling that using the dryer takes a lot of energy.

Thanks again, everyone.

Malissa, I'm making pot holders/trivets/whatever you call them with these felted sweaters.