Help with a new wool blanket

OK all, I have purchased my first wool blanket, (ok, 90%). I figured I will try to learn with it before I pick up a really nice one. Wanted to ask what is the best way to fluff it up? Just took it out of the package and it is flat. Would you wash in cold water and dry on low? Maybe hang to dry? Was only 40 bucks, but don't want to ruin it. Wanted to ask those who know much better than I. Any help greatly appreciated.

Doc

So I have NEVER put a wool anything in a dryer on purpose. If a blanket gets dirty, I hand wash in woolite and hang dry.

Does it need to be fulled?

Sometimes, my blankets end up in the dryer on fluff/air dry to help collect forest litter. Wool blankets rarely need washing - hang them in the sun and beat the dust out.

Yes I guess fulled is the right word. It needs to be fulled.

Doc

DocGP said:

OK all, I have purchased my first wool blanket, (ok, 90%). I figured I will try to learn with it before I pick up a really nice one. Wanted to ask what is the best way to fluff it up? Just took it out of the package and it is flat. Would you wash in cold water and dry on low? Maybe hang to dry? Was only 40 bucks, but don't want to ruin it. Wanted to ask those who know much better than I. Any help greatly appreciated.Doc

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Wash it in Woollite. You can do that in a big tub or in the bath tub. Then hang it to dry. When you hang it, fold it over the clothes line, rope or what have you. Do not try to hang it with the edge or it will be pulled out of shape. Once it is dry, toss it in the drier set on gentle cycle or fluff dry. If your drier is too small to allow the blanket enough room to be freely tumbled, take it to a Laundromat but be sure their driers have a gentle or fluff dry setting. You will end up with a fluffy blanket that will be much softer and warmer than it is now. Here's a little hint, toss in a pair of clean sneakers with your blanket. They will tumble around and help fluff the blanket.

I'd try tumble drying on low and checking it every 5 minutes. Or you could go to historical extremes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdJVqPQXG9I

:shocked2:

I wash on Sport Wash w/cool water and put in dryer on just air, no heat. Works for me and softens the blanket.

DocGP said:

Yes I guess fulled is the right word. It needs to be fulled.

Doc

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Fulling requires agitation - I wash in warm water (Washing machine) and dry on low heat (Dryer).

Your blanket may shrink considerably - more in width and a little less in length. If you can't afford this loss of size, avoid fulling...

Not sure why you would want to "fluff" it...
But, I wash all my blankets when I get them...
I have a HE washing machine...use Woolite on the hand wash cycle....line dry...then hang for a week to air out.
A dryer will remove too much nap. and never dry with heat or it will shrink

Yeah, IF it was to be fulled, you can try that in a washing machine, but it will also cause some shrinkage.

I fill my washer on low, using the hottest water (since heat over time in the water heater destroys the chlorine) and then let the water sit and come to room temp.

Then I add the woolite, let it mix for a few seconds, then add the blanket and let it soak in the water in the machine, with the machine turned off. Let it set about 30 minutes, then I move the dial to spin dry, and let the washer spin dry the blanket. The machine will then refill for the rinse. Now that's cold, chlorinated water, but you only let it sit for about five minutes, then move the dial to spin dry and spin dry it again.

Spinning uses centrifugal force, not agitation..,

I remove it from the washer, and then as the guys have said, you hang it over a line, a 1/2" rope is better, but over a bare, wooden closet rod is even better as it won't form any sort of crease in the blanket. Then fold it up after 24 hours after checking if the ends are damp.

LD

colorado clyde said:

Not sure why you would want to "fluff" it...

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Fluffing makes it softer to the touch and more comfortable. It also makes it a bit warmer by making more airspaces to create an insulating effect. It is like a sleeping bag. After it has been used for a while, the insulation sort of packs down and you begin to notice that is not as warm as it was. Then you fluff it in the drier and next trip it is nice and warm again. You can re-warm your sleeping bag in the field by laying it out and beating it with some branches cut from a local bush. The beating fluffs the insulation and makes it warmer. It's a trick that an old friend taught me.

Fluffing, ok I think I get what it is, my question does this result in a softer feel only, or does it change the appearance I.E. fluffy sweater? If the latter I would :hmm: long and hard before I made a camp blanket "fluffy" I find the tight weave blankets easiest to pick pine needles & burrs from. One of my best blankets seems to have started life as a 1st class blanket for an Airlines, maybe 1/3" thick TIGHT weave, almost all forest litter shakes off.

Sean Gadhar said:

Fluffing, ok I think I get what it is, my question does this result in a softer feel only, or does it change the appearance I.E. fluffy sweater?

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Both - makes a quality blanket thicker and raises the nap for a softer feel. Doesn't work very well with inexpensive blankets made from short staple wool - those blankets will shrink and get a little thicker, but will always be scratchy (though some people claim the use of hair conditioner makes them less scratchy)...

though some people claim the use of hair conditioner makes them less scratchy

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YES it does, BUT it must be A LOT of conditioner in water and you soak the blanket and then spin dry, followed by air drying. It also should only be done on a blanket that you simply cannot stand due to scratchy-ness, and one that you're not going to turn into a garment to wear while hunting. Hair conditioners are normally well perfumed and deer no-like such scent.

LD

I have a couple of scratchy blankets which are used to protect the nicer blanket underneath or as padding/insulation under the bead. One I use regularly has a couple of holes from sparked embers....

Just pin or sew a bed sheet to one side of the blanket...

colorado clyde said:

Just pin or sew a bed sheet to one side of the blanket...

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I was one of those people that could not stand to have wool touch me. Even a wool sweater with a tee shirt and dress shirt under it was too scratchy. I just put myself in a situation where I was vary cold and had only shorts and a thick wool blanket :idunno: took all of about half an hour for my body to decide that it wanted warm over its dislike of wool. Took two or three nights but I hardly notice wool scratch any more.

colorado clyde said:

Just pin or sew a bed sheet to one side of the blanket...

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Or some cotton flannel or felt. You buy a little insulation you get a dead air space. Not hc but... you can sew some Velcro patchs on your blanket and flannel liner, and make it easy to remove to wash. You could put buttons on it to be a little more hc although if you remember 'seven drunken nights' one verse is 'buttons on a blanket, I've never seen before'

I go whole hog with my wool blankets. Wash them in hot water and dry on high heat. They shrink some but plump up and felt. They seem warmer and usually less scratchy. I've found Hudson Bay blankets don't shrink a whole lot. French army blankets none at all, but they remained very scratchy. Italian army blankets, 100% wool, not replicas seemed to shrink more, but not too small to use. An English military hospital blanket the most.