WoolWeenies Club

[SadieKate]

Are these technical wool items different than the fashion items I have never had the pleasure to enjoy? . . . I am tempted to try a base-layer-T. Has anyone who welts tried the newer sports-tech stuff and survived?

Sort of.

Washable wool is created by using acid to remove the scales so the fiber doesn't felt when washed. Additionally, the fiber may be coated with polymers or teflon. Perhaps, the lack of scales, the coating, and a potential loss of lanolin from the acid bath may mean people may be less likely to react to the wool.

Anyone who knits and/or felts with wool can tell you that superwash yarns behave very differently than wool that still has its natural scales and lanolin (and even "normal" yarn has varying degrees of lanolin depending on how much the wool has been processed prior to spinning). It not only doesn't felt, it can remain stretchier. Fair Isle knitting can be tricky with washable wool because the yarn scales aren't there to grab onto the neighboring strand, so the garment stretches more and doesn't have the same memory (i.e., shrink back to original size).

Editing to add that all wool is technically "washable" but what the industry calls washable wool or superwash can be much more roughly handled (a washing machine) and maybe even thrown in the dryer. When washing non-superwash, don't use agitation, warm water or heat to dry. Otherwise, you'll get shrinkage and felting.

Here's some more info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wool
Superwash wool (or washable wool) technology first appeared in the early 1970s to produce wool that has been specially treated so that it is machine washable and may be tumble-dried. This wool is produced using an acid bath that removes the "scales" from the fiber, or by coating the fiber with a polymer that prevents the scales from attaching to each other and causing shrinkage.
http://knitting.about.com/od/knittin...rwash_wool.htm

http://www.thevillaandshoestoo.com/P...le%20wool.html