How to take care

My customers often ask me how to properly take care of felted items such as scarves, tippets, etc. And as a matter of fact I try to share my experience with them as it would be nice to use the purchased things as long as possible without them loosing their original looks.

  

Nunofelting Scarf "Charlotte's Web"

 

Felted Scarf-Stole "Macchiato"

How to take care (so that something could be left afterwards)

Since all woolen and natural fibers are very easy to clean you don’t have to soak them in a washing solution before washing itself. Wash rapidly and squeeze gently. Don’t rub, pull or wring out. The ideal choice is hand-washing. The water temperature for rinsing must be 30-40C (90F). If during the washing you have to change the bucket – do it carefully. It’s very important to wait until the detergent dissolves in water. Don’t pour the detergent onto the item you are going to wash! And though there are plenty of liquid washing gels and solutions on the market, you should dissolve them in water before washing anyway.

Briefly:

Don’ts:
- wash, rinse and dry in automatic washing machines in regular modes;

- rinse in cold or hot water, wring;

- dry clean, heat, bleach;

Dos:

- to make the things you want to wash soft you can use special fabric conditioners and softeners;

- to make the washed and dried things soft (or after the summer storage) steam them through the thin cotton cloth soaked in a special solution;

- use clean cotton cases for summer storage;

- for moth prevention treat the cotton cases and shelves with specials aerosols and/or put moth balls inside the cases or on the shelf;

Recommended:

- gentle hand-wash in slightly warm water using a special washing/rinsing solutions (for delicate washing): for a short time soak the things you want to wash, wash using gentle squeezes (don’t rub), rinse gently in a water with the same temperature, wring gently (without twisting), leave the things till the water drains, dry them using a Turkish towel, spread them out on a clean cotton cloth or on the towel. Later steam them using an iron.

And my personal little secret: you can use hair balms and conditioners fro rinsing – the result is just perfect!