Washing Instructions

One of the most common questions about our lovely natural yarns! The best explanation I’ve seen is from a guide I was linked to on Ravelry for a different brand, but this works great for our yarn as well since there will similarly be spinning oil remaining with our yarn before the first bath.

Soap

For the first washes you want to use a detergent to remove the spinning oils that are on the yarn. Dish soap is the preferred detergent but make sure it is enzyme free and NOT antibacterial. In North America, Dawn Blue is good enough for oily ducks and yarn! In Europe and other places, Fairy Liquid is recommended.

Water Temperature

Water should only be as hot as what comes out of your tap or less. Anything hotter and you risk ruining the yarn. If you scald your hands then the water is too hot!! Many yarn manufacturers now recommend 30c to 40c/86f to 104f for removing lubricants from their yarns.

The Process (Cashmere, wool, yak, silk… it’s all done the same.)

This is the same process if you are prewashing skeins of yarn, your knit swatches or washing a finished object.

Wash

Fill sink or container with hot water and add about three times as much soap as you think that you’ll need. (A sink full of dishes would need a teaspoon or so, so you’ll need a tablespoon or more dish soap. I use water/wine glasses for swatches and small bowls for small things like hats. Same process, less soap.)

Add items to the hot soapy water and let soak for about 15 minutes. Gently swish/squeeze but don’t over agitate or you may start to see some felting/fulling. Be gentle! (Do not let the water cool down too much or you’ll have to repeat the process more.)

Repeat these two steps, at least two or three more times, until water is no longer cloudy/milky looking.

Rinse

Rinse in the same temperature hot water two or three times, letting it soak for about five minutes each time. Consider adding a bit of white vinegar to the final rinse especially if you live somewhere with particularly hard water.

Roll up in a towel to squeeze out excess water and lay flat to dry. (When I wash skeins, which is a rare event, I hang my skeins on a hanger to dry but finished objects and swatches just get laid flat to dry.)

Washing Skeins

If you would like to prewash your skeins before knitting, untwist the skeins into round hanks and follow the same instructions, taking care to not overly agitate. When removing from the water, support the yarn with a hand so the full weight of the wet hank doesn’t stretch the yarn. Roll up in a towel to remove most of the water and then lay flat to dry. Do not retwist into skeins until the yarn is completely dry.

I made a very quick video to supplement the written instructions as I think they can be a bit intimidating (but they really aren’t!) The vid has timestamps as well if there are certain parts you’d like to look over!