I previously wrote a post about building a sustainable wardrobe with natural fabric clothing, and now I want to share with you the method that I use to care for these fabrics, especially how to wash wool at home.

Even when I decided to incorporate more natural fabric clothing into my wardrobe, I was a little nervous.

Mainly because I thought that it would be too much of a hassle to care for.

I knew that a lot of these clothes, such as those made of silk and wool, would have dry clean only tags.

And I am not somebody who ever goes to the dry cleaners. I never have been and I don’t see that changing about me anytime soon.

The fear over how I would care for more shrinkage-prone clothing was definitely merit based!

I’m going to tell you a little story, and please let me know if you’ve heard (or experienced) this one before.

A long time ago, my husband (then boyfriend) bought a really nice pair of wool pants from French Connection. He paid quite a bit of money for them and they fit him perfectly.

When it came time to wash them, I figured that the dry clean only tag was just a suggestion. Surely I could wash wool in the machine!

So, I went ahead and washed them. In the washer.

And I dried them. In the dryer.

And they shrunk, drastically.

What once fit my husband, who is about 10 inches taller than me, was almost my size. I wish I had kept those pants now…they were the perfect, slightly oversized pants of my dreams. At least, that’s how I’m remembering them.

I know what you’re thinking…everyone knows you’re not supposed to put wool pants in the dryer.

Well, I know that too…now.

But, that whole experience left a pretty big fear towards wool clothing.

Recently, I decided that I wanted a pair of wool pants, after seeing some lovely ladies wearing them on Instagram.

I was especially enthralled with Lauren Winter’s Slim Pants. But I decided to hold out and to see if I could find a pair secondhand locally.

This way, I’d be able to try them on and they would also be a lot cheaper.

After about a month of searching, I finally found a beautiful high waisted grey pair that fit perfectly and were priced at $45. Win win.

And the fabric tag showed that they were 75% wool/25% cashmere and…dry clean only!

My heart palpitated at the though of cleaning them myself but I went ahead and got them.

I didn’t wash them right away (which is what I always suggest you do). Luckily, there was no damage and I didn’t end up with a moth infestation!.

Instead, I started looking into how to wash wool pants. I came across some special detergent that you could use and I put it out to the Instagram community as to whether anyone had used it and would they recommend it.

And I got a lot of good feedback. Those who had used it, really liked it.

But what stood out the most were the responses that said any mild detergent would be fine to wash wool.

There was also a response that I remember reading that said the most important thing when you wash wool is to keep the temperature consistent because it is drastic temperature changes that cause the wool to shrink.

So, with those responses in mind, I decided to give it a shot. It was time to see if I could wash wool clothes successfully at home.

And it worked! I think that this is a problem that a lot of us would like a solution to so I thought I’d put together a little guide on how to wash wool.

Step-by-step Guide for Washing Wool

Step 1:

Fill a sink with cold water.

I run my water as cold as possible and then fill the sink. I find this to be the best way to keep the water temperature consistent.

Add a mild detergent. I used an environmentally responsible detergent that I buy at Costco.

Also, note any areas that are particularly soiled. We will revisit this in step 3.

Step 2:

Submerge the item completely.

I like to take about a minute here to continuously push the item under the surface of the water.

Then I set a timer for 5-10 minutes, depending on how much time I have.

Step 3:

Once the timer goes off, it is time to pay attention to the soiled areas that you noted in step 1.

Put a little extra detergent on your hand and gently rub onto any soiled areas. Do not rub the fabric together.

Give the spot a nice little massage and then set the item back in the water. Set the timer for another 5-10 minutes.

If there was no soiled areas, just move on to Step 4.

Step 4:

Once the timer goes off, it’s time to agitate the water and the item a little. This helps to loosen any dirt on the item.

I like to use a kitchen wisk for this part so that my hands don’t freeze!

After agitating the item for about a minute, I let it sit for another 5-10 minutes.

Step 5:

Now that the item has been soaking for a white, it’s time to rinse it.

I let all of the water out and I run my water as cold as possible.

I have a double sink so I leave the item in one side while I run the water in the other. Once the water is as cold as possible, I drape the item across the middle divider.

Then I alternate running cold water over each side.

Step 6:

Once I am satisfied that there is no more detergent left in the item, I turn off the water. Then I gently squeeze as much water as possible out of the item.

Do not wring out the item.

This is very important so as to not stretch the wool fibers.

Step 7:

Lay out a clean bath sheet and place the item on top.

Leave about a 4-6 inch space at the bottom.

Step 8:

Roll the item up in the towel like a burrito.

Using your body weight, press down on the towel burrito (this is as technical as I get…promise) to squeeze the water out.

Fold the towel burrito in half and repeat the pressing.

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Step 9:

Place the item on a clean bath sheet and lay flat to dry.

I personally move mine to the floor of my closet so that my cats can’t lie on it. Because for whatever reason, nothing is as comfortable to lie on than wet wool…hmmm.

Check on it from time to time and turn it over as needed.

You can also switch out the bath sheet for another dry one once the pants are fairly dry.

And that’s it.

This is the process that has helped me get over my fear of washing wool.

In my experience, I have had no problems with this process.

But I caution you to do this at your own risk. I am in no way an expert when it comes to these sorts of things.

If you have any tips or tricks when it comes to washing wool or any other natural fabric, please share them in the comments.

[This post has been updated to include a link to a wool care video that I did for Eileen Fisher].

Until next time,

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