Detergent instead of soap?

[HillSlugger]

Yup, it worked great! I'm a bit computer illiterate, so didn't at first realize you had the link right there. How'd you make it be words instead of a URL?

First highlight the words you want to be the link, then click the link button (the one that looks like the earth and chain), paste in the url, and then click OK.

[madscot13]

I guess I am sort of half fasting it with the link washing recomedings. I do use hot water, but I do scrub in the arm pit areas. I also use woolite but will try dawn whe I run out. IT is sort of working. My wool smells nice and I haven't lost a touch of color- I was afraid with the hot water. However, the armpits are a little faintly sweat smeliing, which isn't too bad with me to begin with.

How do other people wash their wool? Do they use a detergent or someother soap? Do tey try the soak in hot water like the link or a thorough scrubing? I found a store that carries the Dr. Bonners but it seems a bit expensive before I hear what other people say.

[Looeez]

As a knitter I did quite a bit of research on washing wool since I didn't want hours of work to be ruined!

Woolite despite it's name, is actually not terribly good for washing wool and apparently detergent is what you want to use. There's lots of info on the web about washing wool garments but here's one page: http://www.fuzzygalore.biz/articles/wash_sweater.shtml

Most of the sports brands use wool treated so that it can be machine washed so you don't have to worry about shrinking it as much as lots of wool garments.

Currently I use this stuff simply because I already have it and it smells nice: http://www.kookaburraco.com/
It's not cheap though so I doubt I'd buy it if I wasn't also handwashing handknitted garments.

[pooks]

I bought the Charlie's Soap online, direct from Charlie's. It's lasting a long time -- at only a Tablespoon per load, I guess it would!

As for detergent vs. soap -- I've found a number of references that claim they're different, including the "how to launder wool" article that was linked in the woolweenie thread.

This stuff is great. They advise you to run a load of just water and Charlie's through your washer first, to wash out the residue from all the other stuff you've used.