Any advice on how to repair holes in wool?

I machine-washed a wool jersey yesterday - cold water, gentle cycle, Ivory Snow powder detergent - and it came out with 4 holes! :(

I don't think we have moths (I haven't seen any evidence of them, and I've been pretty anal about storing my woolens in ziplock backs w cedar balls), so I'm guessing it was the washing that caused the holes.

I actually had the jersey in a large mesh bag to keep the amount of agitation down. My best guess is maybe, since I was washing in cold water, perhaps the powder detergent didn't completely dissolve in the cold water before I tossed in the jersey, and some of the detergent stuck onto the jersey, causing the holes.

I'll certainly be looking into other soaps for washing my woolens (anyone try Kookaburra Wool Wash?).

So, now that lovely SF Randonneurs jersey has 4 holes in it, I'd like to try to mend them. Anyone have any suggestions on how to do this? Or should I find someone who fixes wool professionally?

Thanks

I would darn it, personally. It's been a long time, but I've darned wool sweaters in the past, and a careful job of darning can hide pretty well.

I really doubt it's the detergent that caused your holes though, especially if the jersey was in a mesh bag. Crickets and roaches will eat woolens, too, and they're a lot more common than moths. (Not saying anything about your housekeeping, roaches or "palmetto bugs" or "water bugs" are just a fact of life in some parts of the country.)

Or, even through a mesh bag, if you had anything else in the load with hooks or Velcro they could've snagged your jersey. Or even the zipper from the jersey or the bag itself, if they were positioned wrong.

Edit: YouTube video

OakLeaf - THANK YOU!!! That was a brilliant step-by-step description of how to darn. I know I'm supposed to know stuff like this, but - darn it ;) - I don't :D

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Originally Posted by OakLeaf

(Not saying anything about your housekeeping, ...)

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You obviously have not been to my home :D

I second lph, thank you so much for the links !

My mom taught me how to darn eons ago, and since then I've completely forgotten how to do it.

Thanks for the info, Oakleaf! I have a cashmere sweater that moths seem to love. I am thinking some darning may be in order.

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Originally Posted by jobob

I machine-washed a wool jersey yesterday - cold water, gentle cycle, Ivory Snow powder detergent - and it came out with 4 holes! :(

I don't think we have moths (I haven't seen any evidence of them, and I've been pretty anal about storing my woolens in ziplock backs w cedar balls), so I'm guessing it was the washing that caused the holes.

I actually had the jersey in a large mesh bag to keep the amount of agitation down. My best guess is maybe, since I was washing in cold water, perhaps the powder detergent didn't completely dissolve in the cold water before I tossed in the jersey, and some of the detergent stuck onto the jersey, causing the holes.

I'll certainly be looking into other soaps for washing my woolens (anyone try Kookaburra Wool Wash?).

So, now that lovely SF Randonneurs jersey has 4 holes in it, I'd like to try to mend them. Anyone have any suggestions on how to do this? Or should I find someone who fixes wool professionally?

Thanks

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Oh no I love that jersey!!
I can not give you any tips as I suck at sewing but I hope you get it fixed up and ready to travel some miles again soon.
Let us know how you go with the repair as I have a few loved wool jerseys and may need this help myself sometime.

Wow. Great stuff.
Oakleaf...or anyone...do you know if darning would work on a fine guage wool jersey...like a Ibex Spin jersy, perhaps?
I have a whole in mine from a fall. Ibex sent me a swatch of material to repair it. But I've stopped at that point. Don't know if I should (1) sew it to the patch, (2) sew it to itself, (3) stitchless sew (i.e. glue for fabrics) it to the patch, or (4) some other repair job.