Come talk to me about felting...

[DoesntChristmasDragOn]

I've found a pure wool cellular cot blanket. What would happen if I washed it well above its recommended 40 degree wash? It's got lots of holes in (as part of the design, being a cellular blanket, rather than moths!)

Give it a whirl and see...

I guess it would felt in theory, but not sure about the holes.

Though in some ways it would be like felting a very loosely knitted item, I htink?

Try it!

The only thing to watch is whether it was marked as being machine washable in the first place, in which case it will be hard to felt. I actualy boiled some Koigu once I was so determined to make it work and not a speck of difference.

It claims to be machine washable at 40.

I hate wool as its too itchy so I'm never going to use the blanket... nothing to lose really

Stick it on the hottest wash? With or without detergent etc?

Will remove the "satin" ribbon edging first!

Is that Soupy?

what will you do with it if it does felt?

I really want to make a knitted and felted bag, but where do I get 100% wool that isnt machine washable?

I tried needle felting, but broke the needle in less than 5 mins. I need to give that another go I think.

Do I need to know what I'll do with it??

Yes, try it then Soupy- I never use detergent but people swear by adding a tennis ball or heavy jeans to the wash to increase agitation. I don't bother, but our machine is very good for that.

Fubsy, you can get wool that felts well, you just need to check the ball band. The one people use the most is Cascade 220 which you can get from Getknitted or Paviyarns. Jaeger Shetland is good but had been discontinued- Rowan is sometimes OK and sometimes not, you just need to check what it says.

Unfortunately the 95deg wash takes over 2 hours so I won't find out til morning...

Thanks, Tamum.

Soupy, I was just being nosy! I wondered if you had a project in mind.

add an old trainer or shoe to the machine to really beat the wool, hottest possible setting, add conditioner to make it less itchy. What are you going to make with the felt?

Well, I've washed it at 95, twice (no jeans or trainers though - blanket is cream, machine is fairly new!!). It has shrunk some, is much softer and fluffier and the holes have closed up.

Will it shrink more the more I wash it?

I don't really have a project in mind: I found the blanket, thought "ewwww, it's all itchy", remembered something about felting/shrinking/hotwashes and, er, here I am. It's a fair size so maybe a bag based on the shape of a plastic carrier but with longer handles...