Boiled wool jumpers
- Thread starter TopCat
- Start date
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
that's why tc is doing this
RubyToogood
RubyTwobikes
At your own risk. You won't be able to control the degree of shrinkage.
For starters I wouldn't boil it but just hand-wash in hot water with no detergent. You can then keep an eye on it and increase the heat and add detergent to increase the shrinkage if necessary.
Even if you just put it on a hot wash you run the risk of ending up with a child sized felt parka.
What is the fibre content and what does the care label say?
bluescreen
tofu eating wokerati
Boiled wool is fulled before being fashioned into a garment. It's a terrible idea to boil a jumper - you'll end up with something tiny and useless. At the very best you might try lying in a warm bath wearing it to attempt to control the shrinkage (the way older urbs may remember doing with Levis) but even that is dodgy as it could continue to shrink as it dries. Much better to buy a jumper that fits in the first place.
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
Maybe adopt bluescreen's suggestion but get a manikin torso so while it dries it will have a figure beyond which it cannot shrink
RubyToogood
RubyTwobikes
Definitely do not do that. Money down the drain. If you had an old manky one fair enough to experiment.
There is even a chance that it wouldn't shrink at all, because some wool is treated to be machine washable.
Spymaster
Plastic Paddy
From what I saw of mine, they don't shrink nice and uniformly all over. You just get fucked-up weirdness that looks like the knitwear equivalent of The Elephant Man.
LDC
On est tous des pangolins
Boiled wool garments are fantastic though. For winter mountaineering some people still use Dachstein mitts which are much, much cheaper and more robust than fancy Goretex things. They have a very particular aroma when damp and sweaty, brings all the rams to your yard.
You can get the equivalent in jumpers but they cost a fortune.
Dachstein Mitts
Dachstein Mitts are classic heavy duty, pre shrunk wool mitts for serious mountain warmth. Made well oversized and then boiled to shrink to a thick feltlike mitt, they are a definite must for the tough Scottish winters.
www.climbers-shop.com
You can get the equivalent in jumpers but they cost a fortune.
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High Voltage
In the top 97% of Urban's most interesting posters
Wouldn’t it be cheaper and more controllable just to eat more and get “larger” to fill the jumper out a bit more
WouldBe
Dislicksick
story
Changing the facts
I thought felting was about knocking it about rather than the temperature. Like, the Mongolian nomads who drag rolls of layered fleece behind their animals as they travel to make it into wool for their tents. And I’ve seen sheep’s fleece made into felt with just water and elbow grease no heat.
So maybe just bung it in a rinse and spin cycle.
Or don’t cos it’ll ruin the jumper.
Is boiled wool different to felted wool?
So maybe just bung it in a rinse and spin cycle.
Or don’t cos it’ll ruin the jumper.
Is boiled wool different to felted wool?
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story
Changing the facts
Not sure there's many calories in wool soup.
Tell that to my foxes, who regularly make a meal out of the wool I put out in my garden. And the worms in my wormery who love a bit of wool.
story
Changing the facts
Okay. So they’re the same but different.
www.nootkas.com
What is the difference between Boiled Wool and Felted Wool?
Most people have heard of felted wool and boiled wool, but what is the difference between the two? In this article, we explore the differences in manufacturing processes, what products each type of wool is used for and the benefits of each. Become a wool expert!
www.nootkas.com
RubyToogood
RubyTwobikes
I have made felt (out of loose wool roving rather than woven or knitted fabric) and there are three ingredients to felting: hot water, rubbing and detergent. Probably 2 out of 3 will do some felting but all 3 will produce the tightest felt. ISTR that wool fibres have little hooks on them and the felting process makes them all stick together. Although a lot of commercial felt, like felt for crafting, is made of artificial fibres.
It's also quite helpful to know this for when you really DON'T want to felt something.
StoneRoad
heckling from the back!
TopCat
Rather than ruin any real wool products, could I suggest that you purchase a Fisherman's "Gansie" of the type worn by the good folk of the North Sea coastline communities.
A good gansie will be both wind and reasonably water proof.
btw [trivia alert] - the patterns knitted into them were individual to various ports, so a body could be identified if washed up after a storm.
Rather than ruin any real wool products, could I suggest that you purchase a Fisherman's "Gansie" of the type worn by the good folk of the North Sea coastline communities.
A good gansie will be both wind and reasonably water proof.
btw [trivia alert] - the patterns knitted into them were individual to various ports, so a body could be identified if washed up after a storm.
kebabking
Not a Girly Swot, but I like them....
Boiled wool garments are fantastic though. For winter mountaineering some people still use Dachstein mitts which are much, much cheaper and more robust than fancy Goretex things. They have a very particular aroma when damp and sweaty, brings all the rams to your yard.
Dachstein Mitts
Dachstein Mitts are classic heavy duty, pre shrunk wool mitts for serious mountain warmth. Made well oversized and then boiled to shrink to a thick feltlike mitt, they are a definite must for the tough Scottish winters.www.climbers-shop.com
You can get the equivalent in jumpers but they cost a fortune.
Have several pairs - they get stolen by beloved family members - in filthy, cold, wet and windy weather they are the absolute shiz.
They've been known to fetch £100 in dire circumstances....
TopCat
Putin fanboy
kebabking
Not a Girly Swot, but I like them....
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