Q: Caring for Wool?

S

Scott Free

Joined
Sep 15, 1999
Messages
3,319
My wife is putting the finishing touches on a wool blanket shirt. Do I need to worry about moths? This one is from a Korean War era Army medical blanket. Finding vintage wool blankets without moth hole is difficult. How do you store and care for these? :confused:
 
I have an old heart wood red cedar chest that we store all our winter blanket's and wool clothing etc. and havn't had moth problem yet. Moth's have a real problem with aromatic cedar. Good luck,
 
You're a lucky man.

I keep meaning to store my stuff better; but i have only ever found one hole and it may have been of another cause, but probably not.

One of those big plastic bags for storing clothes in ought to do it.

You can brush off most dirt and hang in the sun for cleaning. You can launder by hand in Woolite or ReviveX.

It is too late for this project, but I think one of the best things you can do is wash the blanket in very hot water w. cold rinse, or boil it if you can, then dunk it into cold water. You get maximum shrinkage, thickening and tightening the weave. After such treatment you make the garment, which I feel can be machine washed on gentle and dried, but i usually dont,
 
Before the shirt was made, I washed the blanket in hot water and then put it in the drier twice. I'm still going to hand wash it, though. It sure looks nice, and I want to keep that way.

Do I have to keep it in one of those zippered plastic bag thingies all the time, or just when storing it for the summer?
 
I have some surplus Italian army wool blankets that are scratchy to high hell. How can I get them softer?
 
cedar chests are really the best option since they last a lifetime. to revive cedar a light sanding with fine sand paper restores the original potency of old cedar. another option is to store in plastic bags with mothballs till needed. mothballs are available everywhere & although the odor is strong it is low toxiditity for people. the fragrance of the insecticide leaves the wool quickly in fresh air.
dennis
 
Cedar is the best thing to keep the moths away; if one doesn't have a chest for it, you can buy cedar balls at K-Mart/Wal-Mart etc. There are also clothes hangers that are designed with wool in mind. Some people even swear that certain herbs and smells also keep moths away, but I have no experience as to that being true. If you use mothballs, do NOT allow them to touch the fabric, as they can degrade the wool.

As to the Italian wool question, there is no way to make it softer, as to my understanding. Wool is graded as to fineness, with the more fine wool costing more (think merino wool vs regular wool) and the sheep are graded in a certain way to their output quality of wool.
 
Scott Free said:
Before the shirt was made, I washed the blanket in hot water and then put it in the drier twice. I'm still going to hand wash it, though. It sure looks nice, and I want to keep that way.

Do I have to keep it in one of those zippered plastic bag thingies all the time, or just when storing it for the summer?
Click to expand...

alright; good for you. Did you notice a difference after wash/dry?


I looked over a wool vest i've had for over 15 years and there is no moth damage. We get moths indoors occasionally; maybe they are not the wool eating kind? My guess is houses are sealed up better than they were 80 + years ago.

my stuff is either in a drawer or closet; that's it. If I were going to store these in the attic then I hopefully use heavy plastic bag things.

If I'm wrong I hope you can agree that a few darned over moth holes only add character to a well used piece;)
 
I love my wool. I bought cedar panels at Home Depot and lined a couple of drawers to store my wool in. A lot cheaper than buying a cedar chest. You should waterproof treat it with either lanolin or Nikwax if your going to be out in the bush a lot.
 
Briarbrow said:
Did you notice a difference after wash/dry?
Click to expand...

The blanket went through the (hot) wash and (high) dry cycle twice. It didn't shrink nearly as much as I thought it would—just a few inches in each direction. It's a little thicker/fluffier now. I've tried to tear and twist the scrap pieces. Can't do it. Tough stuff.

We do have a cedar chest. My wife uses it to store her off-season clothes. I'm gonna have to make a little space in there for my shirt. :)
 
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