Wool Socks

Do they require special care? I joust bought some way cute wool "sock guy" socks. How do I wash them? THe last wool item I owned was a sweater. It now fits Barbie...

if they are "smart wool" you'll do fine. otherwise, it depends. the socks you bought came with directions on how to wash.
or go back to the sock guy and ask him/them.

i have some non-smart wool wool socks, and some of them have gotten less pleasant to wear over the years, and others stand up better. try and find the washing directions that came with your socks. I throw mine in the wash. survival of the fittest!

Even my SmartWool socks shrink in the dryer. I know others have had different experiences, but I hang all mine to dry now. Doesn't take too long (that's one of the beauties of wool).

If I were smarter, I would have kept the instructions. Not that bright. But yeah, they're smart wool.

that's good news then. so don't wash them hot, the best thing to do is gentle cycle, and then line dry; but if you don't remember you're probably not going to ruin them, they hold up well but do shrink a little.

wash cold/gentle.

and use wool detergent. regular contains protease. wool is protein. bad combo.

Why not just email Sock Guy? They have a form on the website.

I wash all my commercially-made wool cycling socks (as well as all my Smart Wool hiking and casual socks) in cold water and tumble dry. I've noticed that some Smart Wool styles dry better than others. In other words, some shrink a bit and some don't. It has seem to become more prevalent with more recently produced items.

My few Sock Guy wool socks seem to be consistent in bahavior with Smart Wool socks. You don't quite know until you try . . . and I have line-dried socks. Too stiff.

I wash all mine (Smartwool, Fox River and Life is Good) in cold water like I do everything else and put them in the dryer...so far so good.

All my Smartwool socks go in the gentle cycle washing machine (lukewarm) with Woolite, then into the dryer on LOW. They hold up great, but they all shrink just a little and then stop shrinking.....which is why I tend to buy my wool socks a little on the large side 'cause I know they do shrink just a bit.
With wool in general- NEVER hot wash, NEVER hot dryer. Always gentle everything. Then again, you don't have to wash 100% wool as often as other kinds of clothing items. Wool repels dirt and takes a long time to get stinky. :D

For what it's worth....

I toss all my smartwool socks in with my regular wash (usually on cold) and they ALL go straight into the dryer on regular temps. Most come out *looking* very small, but as soon as they go on my feet, they are back to their normal size again.

I also machine wash AND dry all my smartwool, ibex, sugoi and icebreaker base layers. I would say they initially shrunk a few percent, but that's it. I've had some of these items for YEARS and the washer/dryer routine doesn't seem to have hurt their performance one bit.

YMMV, but my experience has been good overall. In the winter time, they all come out of the dryer with a bit of static cling, but they're base layers so I don't especially care. If I wanted less static, I would probably hang dry them.

Susan

Also FWIW...

it's not the feet part of the socks shrinking that gave me problems, it's the leg part. Cuts off the circulation in my calves, gives me leg cramps. Folding them down to my ankles sometimes helps, if they're not shrunk too much, but it doesn't always help, and it always looks super goofy. Not good for a $15 pair of socks.

And, I never understood why "hard water" was called that until I quit using the dryer in the summer time. :rolleyes: You know the only reason why the dryer "softens" clothes when you're not using fabric softener, is because it beats them around for the length of the cycle and breaks up the mineral crystals or whatever. Shaking each item out very thoroughly after you take it off the line has the same effect.

I always turn mine inside out to help prevent "pilling" - I rarely read directions, but I do believe I read this on the Smartwool sock package instructions. I am a Smartwool sock junkie. I am fussy about clean socks, but can honestly wear mine 2 or 3 times to work in (8.5 hour shifts as a nurse) - they don't stink or get stretched out. Mine get cold H2O wash and tumble dry on the medium low setting. If you take them out when damp, they will finish drying relatively quickly too. enjoy! they are the best socks ever! Tokie