Yarn Fairy Visited My Home, But...:(

#1

Last night when I got home from my trip, I found 3 skeins of Caron Simply Soft on my porch. Someone dropped them off and didn’t leave them in a bag. They left them on a metal chair and it must have rained a little. One of the skeins got slightly wet and now has some rust on it.

I need to get the rust out, but I will be using the yarn to make baby items for NICU and don’t want to use anything too strong. I was thinking I would place it in a lingerie bag and wash it with Deft, but I’m not sure if this will just mess up the yarn completely. Any suggestions? I hate for this sweet gift to go to waste.

#2

Is it small enough you can just cut out that section? You’re going to have some ends to weave in anyway so what are a few more.

I have tried washing yarn in a laundry bag and it came out pretty well. It takes a while to dry inside that skein though. Rust usually requires more effort than just washing though unfortunately. Maybe you could try hand washing just that spot and see if even works.

#3

I have hand-washed whole balls of yarn, even a skein or two…gently squeezing and sloshing through the water. for soap I usually use Eucalan, but if really tough dirt spot like your rust, you may need something stronger, like soap. Then I rinse, wrap in a thick towel, step on this to get most of the water out. I let the entire ball or skein dry in the sun, turning it every hour or two.

Good luck with yours! I hope you can save it.

#4

I have never found a way to remove rust. Hopefully you can. If it is a small amount, I would cut it out.

#5

Here’s a few things to check that would require no harsh chemicals. If you can try it on just the stained part you wouldn’t need to wash the entire skein.

Using a lemon

Another one that suggests lemon and also cream of tartar and/or salt

#6

I decide to cut out the rust. I wound the yarn loosely on a piece of cardboard and set it outside to dry. Thanks everyone for your suggestions.