Can anyone advise me what to “bathe” Lamb’s Pride, or any handwash wool, in?
There are many specialty wool soaps like Eucalan and Soak, but I usually just use Dr. Bronner’s or just regular shampoo! (particularly of the natural and/or gentle variety) More important that what soap you use is just to use lukewarm water and let it soak without agitating it.
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Thx much for the recommendation Sarah!!
Karyn
I did a Carbeth in Lamb’s Pride and I used Eucalan. Turned out beautifully. I’m currently working on the Station Wagon Blanket and the only thing I will probably do differently is to add a capful of color fixative to the cauldron! Good luck!
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Thank you so much for your advice!
I’ll give it a try. Karyn
I’m a Soak user, but the best hint I found was to put the soap in the sink, run the water in as high as necessary, then drop the FO gently on top of the suds, and leave it there until it sinks into the water, so the object is totally saturated. I find that usually takes about an hour, and I’ve been very pleased with the results.
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Ooo, that’s a really good idea!! I’ll do it;) thx much
You won’t believe what I ended up soaking my mitered cross and garter squares in; Johnson’s baby head to toe wash!!
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Soak. If I’m desperate, the simplest shampoo on my shelf.
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I’ve since tried Kookaburra, a nice product I picked up at my lys. Made with tea tree oil which smells horrible (to me) but there’s a lavender scented one I bought!
I always use Soak myself, mostly because I don’t need to rinse once the soaking is finished: one less opportunity to agitate the wool. Eucalan and other dedicated wool washes also have “no rinse” formulations. What’s most important is to avoid anything that has detergent in it as detergent breaks down proteins by design, and wool is a whole lot of protein. If your shampoo is detergent free, it’s a reasonable fall back if the laundry shelf is lacking.
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Me, too, which is why I wondered “why Dawn?”
for what? I have often heard spinners use dawn for scouring fleece, but I am tempting the chemists to weigh in now I know. I used Sunlight soap when I first started spinning, but switched to Unicorn Power Scour. These days I don’t process fleece, leaving it to the experts (who don’t have sensitive septic systems).
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I use my shampoo (Herbsl Essences - Coconut Milk scent). I start to fill the sink, add a small amount of shampoo & whisk it around with my hand. Then add the item & let it soak for a while before rinsing. Everyone always comments on how nice my hand knits smell.
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Mmmmm coconut😊
I usually use baby shampoo. Gentle, and smells like the top of a baby’s head. Hard to beat that.
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