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Comment by davidw | Hacker News Reader

What was your experience washing the various things you got from these places? Did it come out ok?

I'm used to doing cold water washes and hang drying everything, but even with that, some wool stuff... it seems you just look at it wrong and it shrinks in weird ways.

Alpacas are cute animals - there are a few ranches near where I live

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I wash wool and silk using a ph balanced detergent with no protease. I use cold water, minimum spin, and a super long soak. Then I hang dry. It's more work to wash this way, but they last longer, never smell, and 100% silk and wool only need washing 1/3rd to 1/5th as often anyway, so the total work is lower than with plastic clothing. The brand of detergent I use is literally called "Soak," and I get it on Amazon.

The clothing comes out great.

Can you tell us more about the soak phase or link to some reading on the specifics?

I do the other three things so I’m just curious whether I’m missing something essential.

I wash quite annoying knitwear that has on occasion shrunk when someone else has washed them or due to my mistakes.

I wash inside out in a clothes bag with no spin and cold water using a detergent for wool (e.g. Woollite, which may not be available where you are).

I dry (also inside out) on a heated drying rack on top of a thin pillowcase or a mesh for that purpose https://www.lakeland.co.uk/25293/dry-soon-deluxe-mesh-shelf-.... This speeds up drying despite the omission of spin, and takes about a day.

This has worked for at least a dozen cycles for a rollneck I quite like.

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