This article will be a kind of pilot of a series about wool, so it seems natural that it should dispel the doubts, uncertainties and fears that appear when you think about sewing with wool for the first time.

The top 5 reactions of people who have not yet learned and loved wool are:

- "It bites!"

- "It can't be washed!"

- "The moths will eat it!"

- "It's only for winter."

- "It's for a sweater."

Therefore…

"Wool? It bites!"

This is a big generalization, because they "bite" varieties of wool with high roughness and thick pile. Sheep come in many varieties that differ not only in appearance, but also in the type of fleece. It is impossible not to mention the noble merino sheep, which have soft and thin hair with excellent thermal parameters. When looking for the right knitwear or woolen fabric, we must determine our needs and requirements. For clothing intended for constant contact with the body, and more specifically with the skin (especially children's), the best choice will be merino wool (also called merino), as it is the most delicate sheep wool. Varieties of Merino sheep, and even individual individuals, differ in hair quality, so among them we can also find more delicate and less delicate wools. For outerwear or lined clothing, we can choose wool with lower hair properties, so do not eliminate less delicate wools.

Here we have a lot of scope for a good fabric seller who will recommend the right material depending on expectations and application.

It is worth briefly mentioning an allergy to sheep wool, or more precisely, the lanolin contained in it, which may result in skin irritation even with the most delicate sheep wool yarn. In this case, it is worth looking for an alternative, which often turns out to be cashmere, i.e. wool of a particular variety of goats or alpaca wool. Both fibers contain negligible amounts of lanolin.

And finally - let's love biting wool. Rough wool massages the skin, improving its blood circulation, and thus ensures its nourishment and condition. Let's give slightly pungent wool a chance. Our skin gets used to the constant stimuli we receive. Who among us remembers the once popular massage flip-flops with insets? What at first resembled walking on gravel, over time became a pleasant massage.

 

"Wool? It can't be washed!"

Often ready-made woolen clothes, especially outerwear, are dry-cleaned in the care instructions. In this way, manufacturers often go a long way to protect themselves against potential complaints resulting from improper care of clothing.

When we sew on our own, we have more freedom. We can use wool with the now common "superwash" finish for sewing or try to test the purchased material. To do this, we cut off a piece of fabric at least 10×10 cm in size and wash it. And after it is completely dry, we check whether its size or quality has changed. If the wool has retained its size and structure, the clothes made of it can be successfully washed.

We wash wool by hand or on a wool washing program (it is best to test your washing machine first) using a detergent intended for this purpose (we do not wash wool in standard washing powders/liquids/capsules!).

We are often afraid of the recommended hand washing, but this is completely unnecessary. Washing wool by hand involves soaking it in water with wool washing liquid, then gently kneading it, rinsing it, squeezing (not wringing it out!) excess water and leaving it to dry. This process is actually not very involved, and considering that wool is antistatic, so it does not attract dust and absorbs dirt poorly, and it does not absorb odors, we wash wool clothes less often than other clothes. We don't have to worry about the lack of spinning or wringing, because wool dries faster than other natural materials (cotton, linen, viscose).

 

"Wool? Moths will eat it!"

Woolen clothes are extremely durable and, unlike cotton, they age slowly and do not fade, fade or turn gray. The only enemy of wool are moths (less often scurries). However, you can successfully protect your wool from moths, and our grandmothers and great-grandmothers were able to do it perfectly and use the same woolen clothes for years.

Clothes moths are sensitive insects, they do not like air, sun and intense odors. Therefore, wool should not be stored in stuffy places, the wardrobe should be aired regularly, and woolen clothing should be taken out and aired on sunny days. A good habit is to wipe the inside of the wardrobe with water and vinegar at the same time. We store wool with intense scents. Not only lavender is an opponent of moths. In addition, we can successfully use laurel, mint or patchouli, and even the once commonly used marsh herb. The effectiveness of mothballs, which were popular not so long ago, cannot be denied, but they leave an unpleasant odor and therefore seem to repel people as effectively as pests. Another popular and effective method is to place an intensely scented bar of soap among woolen clothes.

Of course, manufacturers of insect control products have not remained indifferent to the problem of wool pests and offer tags or boxes that not only repel but also kill moths. So we have a choice between natural and chemical means.

I want to raise awareness about the use of moth traps. Let's not use them preventively! They have pheromones that attract moths even from further afield. So if we leave such a trap for a long time, the moths will feel invited, and any ventilation grates or open windows will be like the open gates of the best restaurant for them.

Traps are used in two cases:

• When we want to check whether we have a moth infestation. We close the windows, secure the ventilation grilles and leave the trap in the place where we expect moths to stay for a day or two. Then remove the trap immediately!
• When we are sure that we have a moth infestation and, in support of other methods, we want to quickly reduce the number of moths in the apartment. We also secure ventilation holes and try to avoid long-term airing while using the trap.

 

"Wool? It's only for winter."

Wool is the undisputed queen of winter because it warms us using our body heat. It is a "living" fiber that, just like our hair, reacts to humidity and ambient temperature. Due to its specific structure, this miracle of nature retains air pockets that insulate us from the ambient temperature, regardless of whether it is high or low. I will use a simple comparison to double-layer windows, which, thanks to the layer of air closed between the glass, perfectly protect the apartment against heat loss in winter or heat outside in summer. Of course, we are not talking about the situation when the sun comes through the window and heats up the room, because the window, unlike wool, is a weak barrier to sunlight. Wool, on the other hand, has a natural UV filter, and the leader here is merino wool, which boasts a UPF exceeding 50 (this means that for 50 units of light that reach the wool, it will transmit at most 1 unit, i.e. it will block at least 98% of both UVA and UVB radiation ). Most regular clothes have a UPF level of 6 (according to the American magazine Consumer Reports).

Wool absorbs and evaporates water wonderfully at the same time, so we don't have to worry about the bitter cold of rainy mornings or "scalding" in sweaty clothes when the skin begs for air.

 

"Wool? It's just for the sweater."

Many people still imagine yarn when they hear the word "wool", and although yarns with a high wool content are the top of the world of yarns, more of the world's sheep fleece goes to fabric and knitwear producers, and then to sewing rooms or to our home sewing machines. . Wool is not only yarn, but also woolen fabrics and woolen knitted fabrics. These are not only woolen sweaters, but also the best woolen suits, woolen thermal clothing, woolen children's clothes, woolen dresses, woolen shirts and top-shelf woolen skirts and woolen clothing from world fashion catwalks.

If I managed to get you interested in wool with this first article, this series will certainly become an interesting journey into the world of this extraordinary fiber.

 

Author: Kamila Muszarska-Iwaniczko