When you hear the word “wool”, the first thing that comes to mind is your grandmother’s knitted sweater or socks, which, with a little biting, heat up in the autumn and winter seasons. But did you know that wool is one of the oldest natural materials that people have been using for more than 10,000 years? It is renewable and biodegradable, durable and soft. It can warm in the strongest winds and also cool in warm sunlight. However, people often avoid woolen products because they do not know how to care for them properly.
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Heat in cold and humid weather, cool in heat
Wool is an excellent cold insulator due to its naturally elastic and bent fibers. It has low thermal conductivity and does not dissipate heat from the body, so when it is cold outside, the heat stays in the wool sweaters. In the deceptive autumn weather, wool will be able to both cool and warm, thanks to the same great natural fibers. That is why it is recommended to choose first-class clothes, including thermal underwear, so that they are partly made of wool.
Those who have soaked in the rain at least once know that afterwards the feelings are not the most pleasant of them. Everything is wet, the same cold, and shivering comes on top. This reaction of the body is natural, but if at least one garment made of wool was worn, it would be able to warm up despite being wet. What kind of? Because wool is naturally hydrophobic and does not allow water to penetrate the fabric, as well as protein-formed fibers are able to store large amounts of water without losing thermal insulation. Unbelievable, but a fact.
Tips on how to properly care for wool
To take proper care of your wool, you need to start by washing it properly. Due to the fact that wool is resistant to dirt and unpleasant odors, in fact, wool clothes do not need to be washed as often as it seems. Here’s an interesting way in which caring for a wool product will suffice – it needs to be well ventilated in the fresh air or left in the shower room to soak in moist air.
However, if there are large stains or an unpleasant odor, then, of course, the wool sweater should be washed. To wash the wool properly, the first and most important thing is to check the washing instructions on the product care label, as most woolen clothes should not be washed in an automatic washing machine. Sometimes the stains of dirt are not large enough to wash the whole garment. In such situations, it is necessary to use the oldest method of washing clothes – by hand, which is not only a sustainable solution, but also prolongs the life of clothing.
It is important to remember that if you wash by hand, do not leave wool clothes soaked for a long time. Instead, lift and put the garment back in the water several times. It is recommended to skim it by hand and let it dry on a flat surface on a towel. If you still want to dry the wool clothes faster, you can also put it in the washing machine by setting the spin at low speed. In addition, it is recommended to use a gentle laundry mode, otherwise there is a possibility that the clothes will get tangled.
If the label states that the laundry is machine washable, use a mild detergent designed specifically for wool, a low temperature setting and, if possible, a washing machine setting of ‘wool’ or ‘hand wash’. When washing clothes containing wool, it is necessary to avoid the use of ordinary laundry detergents. Because wool is made up of protein, it can break down the amino acids in the fibers and remove the wool’s natural lanolin (the secretion of the sebaceous glands in the skin), which will result in holes in your favorite wool sweater or socks.
Never dry woolen clothes in the tumble dryer, as this is the straightest way to shrink your lovely sweater and general deterioration.
To avoid discoloration of woolen clothing, it is recommended to store it away from direct sunlight. It is recommended to put woolen clothes in a clothes bag or cardboard box so that it can be ventilated, but at the same time it can not encounter moth-hungry moths. However, if the wool products are stored simply in a closet, it is better to fold them neatly and lay them down, rather than hang them on hangers – thus the clothes will better retain their shape.
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