Whoever asked the original question was wondering about washing gabradine, correct? Gabardine is made of combed, highly twisted fibers. It's never going to felt, no matter how you try.
Wool is weakened when it's wet, and washing is hard on it. At the very least, use a hand wash cycle and drip dry. Kim -----Original Message----- From: h-costume-boun...@indra.com [mailto:h-costume-boun...@indra.com] On Behalf Of Pierre & Sandy Pettinger Sent: Tuesday, November 03, 2009 10:54 PM To: Historical Costume Subject: Re: [h-cost] How do I wash? Also, according to an article on felting I just read, pH makes a difference. The more alkaline your wash is, the more wool will felt (shrink). Alkalinity opens the scales on the wool fibers so they hook together more readily. Keys to successful washing of wool (according to a wool producer): Constant temperature (apparently it doesn't matter hot or cold, so long as it stays the same throughout). Agitation (or lack thereof) - more agitation = more linking of fibers pH - more alkaline = more linking of fibers So, keep the temperature constant, don't agitate (or as little as possible) and use a slightly acidic to pH neutral wash. And test, Test, TEST!! Sandy At 05:39 PM 11/3/2009, you wrote: >I agree with "C." below. You just never know. And, just because you >get it through one wash in the machine doesn't mean you can do it >again. The agitation REALLY makes a difference. > >Sg > >On Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 2:18 PM, <stils...@netspace.net.au> wrote: > > > Dry clean or hand wash with wool wash, cool to cold water, line dry, > > press lightly, > > > > -C. > > > > > I just bought some 100% wool gabardine. I'd like to machine wash > > > it, but > > am > > > worried I might mess it up. I was thinking--Cold water, tumble dry low. > > Is > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------ > > This email was sent from Netspace Webmail: > > http://www.netspace.net.au > > > > _______________________________________________ > > h-costume mailing list > > h-costume@mail.indra.com > > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume > > >_______________________________________________ >h-costume mailing list >h-costume@mail.indra.com >http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume "Those Who Fail to Learn History Are Doomed to Repeat It; Those Who Fail To Learn History Correctly - Why They Are Simply Doomed." Achemdro'hm "The Illusion of Historical Fact" -- C. Y. 4971 Andromeda _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
