washing the woolens

It's been a kind of strange Summer around here. Weather-wise at least. We have had highs of 40 and lows of 4 degrees. Which has kind of played havoc in my garden, but that's a story for another day. It has also meant that wool washing has continued on and off this season. 

I have been making my own wool wash for a few months now and thought I'd share it with you today. It's not really so very different from an ordinary washing gel recipe, only in different quantities.

I only made one jar this time around and used just one (140g) bar of Dr Bronner's Lavender soap.  (I love the smell of Dr Bronner soaps )You could easily substitute this for any other pure soap. Depending on how much soap you have on hand you can easily make double or more of this recipe. This recipe makes one large jar.

Woolwash

250ml water, boiled

140g bar of pure soap

1 teaspoon borax

Grate soap into saucepan. (Good job for the kiddies). Add borax.

Pour boiling water over the grated soap and borax.

Bring saucepan to the boil.
Stir with a whisk or spoon until the soap flakes are dissolved. This takes several minutes.

Pour into a glass jar. The mixture will cool into a white jelly.

I use a heaped tablespoon to a large sink (of lukewarm water) or in the (front loading) machine. Yes, I do use the wool cycle on the washing machine for many of my woolens. But I only recommend this if you really trust your machine. When I do handwash, I quite enjoy the slowness of it. The pleasant smell of the warm soapy water and a chance to ponder over each knitted item while carefully cleaning it. Then the process of laying the wool in a towel and gently rolling to squeeze out the water.

Happy wool washing!