So I was browsing around the internets this morning, you know, link to link to link (I was really just trying to find yardage on some yarn I already have) and ended up at www.yarn.com, clicked on some pretty yarn (since I was there already, you know…) and it said Dry Clean Only!
:shock: :shock: :shock:
Are they serious?
Do you buy this stuff?
Do you actually dry clean your garments after you make them?
Is this yet another whole area of knitting I’ve never heard of?
I’m just so curious!
I dry clean all my wool sweaters, handmade or not. I use the “Dryell” in dryer method and then about once or twice a year have them professionally cleaned. I have wool sweaters that are 20 years old and look like new.
Well, if you think about it, we buy clothes that are dry clean only, tumble dry on low only, like colours only, no bleach. All these items are made from yarn/thread. So in the knitting world these same fibers need to be washed a certain way.
Say you bought a beautiful cotton top, you wouldn’t wash it in hot water and dry in high heat… Same goes for a cotton knit top. Wool yarns are probably the ones most likely for dry cleaning… With heat and Agitation the wool will felt and shrink. So dry cleaning is a good way to prevent that.
I want to note, I have washed “dry clean only” clothes in a regular wash, and they came out fine. BUT they were not hand made. I would take alot more care with a hand knit.