Felting a sweater in a front-loader machine?

[tinasquirrel]

Are there any special tricks to felting a sweater in a front-loader? I've never done it, and honestly, aren't even sure how to go about it, but I've been hesitant because of my front loader. You can't decide to take it out after 10 minutes or anything like that with a front loader. I can try running it on the shortest cycle however.

Use a little detergent, hot wash, cold rinse. Right? And wash with a few towels or something to help with the agitation? (Which I would have to do anyway because my machine really doesn't like it if you only wash one thing. Throws the spin cycle way off.)

And I should felt it before I cut it up, right?

I have a few old sweaters that aren't being worn anymore, and I'd like to recycle them into something. Not sure what, but I'm sure they are useful for something!

[liawbh]

You'll want to put it in a zippered pillowcase, to keep the fuzz out of your machine's insides.

I also throw a couple tennis balls or my canvas Keds in there, for a little extra agitation.

Since you want to cut it, not felting to fit, you can put it on a long hot cycle. You can't really overfelt if youre not worried about size.

Another thing I do to speed it up is to pour a kettle of boiling water on the item right before I start the machine.

[laoxinat]

I have also had much better results when using soap, as opposed to detergent. From what I understand, soap makes the fibers sort of 'stand out' so they grab each other during agitation. Detergent, OTOH has surfactants, which decrease the friction. Friction is good. I just use a bar of ivory or a generic soap, rub it into the wool after it' wet, then throw the whole thing either into the washing machine - yes, definitely in a pillowcase! - or I boil it on the stove if I 'm pressed for time. I have read also some people actually soak a portion of a bar of soap until it melts and add that.
HTHs!!

[tinasquirrel]

Great, thanks so much! Yes, pillowcase is definitely a good idea that I hadn't thought of! I was probably just going to use my Charlie's Soap since we don't have regular detergent. Maybe rubbing a bar of Ivory into the wet wool before I throw it in the washer would be a good idea instead. Maybe I'll play around with this tonight!

[Girlymomwithsons]

I did the same thing just a few weeks ago, and I found that my front loader didn't felt very well. I didn't rub the sweater with soap though, I just put it in the detergent spot on the top of the machine, maybe that would have made a difference. In the end, I also put it in the dryer, since my dryer SUCKS and I didn't care how small it got. My dryer isn't supposed to be a low heat maching, but it is, so it helped without over felting. Good luck.

[tinasquirrel]

Originally Posted by Girlymomwithsons

I did the same thing just a few weeks ago, and I found that my front loader didn't felt very well. I didn't rub the sweater with soap though, I just put it in the detergent spot on the top of the machine, maybe that would have made a difference. In the end, I also put it in the dryer, since my dryer SUCKS and I didn't care how small it got. My dryer isn't supposed to be a low heat maching, but it is, so it helped without over felting. Good luck.

Yes, I'm worried that the front loader won't work as well as a regular machine. (Yet another reason to hate my washing machine!) I'll try putting some tennis balls or shoes in there to help with agitation. And maybe I'll try the pour boiling water on it, rub soap in it thing as well. Front loaders just don't agitate as much as regular machines.

[Malva]

I put jeans in mine to help with agitation and turn off the cold water tap since even on hot, it uses a mix of cold and hot water. I also use wool soap. I find my front loader totally fine for felting.

[tinasquirrel]

Originally Posted by Malva

I put jeans in mine to help with agitation and turn off the cold water tap since even on hot, it uses a mix of cold and hot water. I also use wool soap. I find my front loader totally fine for felting.

What do you mean, wool soap? Like that stuff (I'm blanking on the name) in the purple bottle that you use to clean/lanolize wool soaker cloth diapers? Or something else?

The kids were off school today, so I was home as well, and decided to try it out. I got it wet with hot, hot water in the utility sink and rubbed in some bar soap. Threw it in a pillowcase, tied closed, and washed on a regular cycle hot wash, cold rinse with Charlie's in the soap dispenser. Washed with some sheets that had to be washed anyway.

It felted up okay, but not good enough. So I dried it on med-high with the sheets. That really didn't do much.

So, I just put it in for a second time. Got it wet with hot water in the utility sink again, rubbed more bar soap in it. Washed it with some towels this time, hot wash, cold rinse, Charlies soap. I used the "heavy soil" cycle this time (runs longer). Much, much better! It looks great! I'm drying it now too, to see how it goes.

That's a good idea to turn off the cold water going into the machine. I'm actually not sure how to do that though. I'll have to ask DH or poke around.

I guess it will just take some trial and error to find a process that works for me, but I'm happy that it will work!

Now, what should I do with it? It was a dark charcoal gray sweater. Hmm...I think it would be a great purse, but I'm not sure how to go about making a purse out of the felt. I'll have to do a search and see what I can find.