Colors bleeding while felting/other Q's

#1

I’m almost finished knitting my first felting project but am confused by all the differing opinions about felting. I have a front loader and have read pros and cons about that. BUT…I’m also wondering whether my tote bag’s colors will bleed at all when I felt.

I was going to wash it with some towels for agitation. Some people advise putting the item into a pillow case, but won’t that take away the agitation factor? The knitted tote won’t be rubbing against the towels if it’s inside a pillow case.

Thanks in advance,

Patty

#2

The issue w/ front load washers, I think, is that you can’t open them during the washing to see how things are going. Sometimes it’s necessary to do more than one wash but not completely finish the cycle on subsequent washes–you just need a little extra sometimes. W/ a front load, as I understand it, you have to wait until the entire wash is finished before it’ll let you open the door (for obvious reasons).

It’s hard to say if your colors would bleed since I don’t know what wool and colors you are using…

Regarding the pillowcase–anything will provide agitation–it just may be that you need more than one cycle if you are using something as soft as a pillow case. I typically felt w/ an old dark blue ratty towell that we have from years ago–it has been saved from goodwill just for that purpose. B/c of it’s condition and color–I don’t have to worry about my felting project bleeding onto the the towell.

Let us know how it turns out!!

#3

:teehee: I can’t help with the front loader question but I think it can be done…

I’ve never had my colors bleed … you could try a small sample of the colors and see…

I use a bag just so the fuzz and stuff stays in the bag and doesn’t clog up my washing machine… :teehee:

towels will work and so will jeans… the best success I had felting was throwing in a pair of shoes :rofl: it felted fast too…

:cheering: can’t wait to see the bag when you are done!!

#4

The pillowcase is to catch the fuzzies given off during felting so that they don’t clog the drain on your washer. I don’t find it affects that amount of agitation or rate of felting at all. I have successfully used several towels or several pairs of jeans as “agitation agents” - both worked fine.

#5

Hi,

As far as colors running when felting, I’ve had it happen when felting a purse that was cranberry with light grey handles and pockets. Even though I put “color catcher” sheets in the washer there was still some slight pinkening of the grey. After the purse was dry I “shaved” it and most of the pink disappeared. I think reds are the worst for colors running. I did two other purses with different color combos and had no problems. I’ve also done seven pairs of Fibertrends clogs in various colors and never had a problem. I’d kind of stay away from reds with white or other very light colors though. The color catcher sheets DO help - sometimes you need more than one, and you may want to change the water if there’s a lot of excess dye in the water. All the felting I’ve done has been with Wool of the Andes - Knitpicks yarn.

Mary