Monday, March 30, 2009

Hand wash laundry -- you say that like it's a bad thing...

I really don't get the disdain for hand wash items. Nothing turns up some people's noses faster than realizing they have a garment that must be washed in the sink. You know, by hand, and dried -- egad -- flat, instead of a tumbling dryer.
I had a small pile of socks and my vest made from Yarn Hollow's hand dyed bulky wool, sitting on the floor, waiting to be washed. Ok, so they'd been lying there for about 3+ months. I know it's been at least that long since I last wore the vest. Enough already.
So yesterday was the day to do the deed. I put a squirt of Finesse in the bathroom sink, added a bit of cool water, and plunged my cream alpaca socks into the bubbly concoction. Swish, swish, squeeze and set aside so I could wash the next pair of hand-painted wool socks. Same action, set aside. Drain the sink, fill with clear, cool water, first the alpaca, then the wool, squeeze out a bit, and hang carefully using a once in demand skirt hanger.
Next up was the vest. Now since I hadn't blocked the vest I decided to throw a cap full of Synthrapol into the cool water in the sink. The vest bled like a stuffed pig. Again and again, I changed out the water. This is exactly why you don't try to hurry the process along by washing cream alpaca socks and this vest at the same time, even if you could fit each of them into the sink at the same time. This time I rinsed it in cool water then reloaded the sink with cool water and a plop of Pantene conditioner. Swish, swish to dissolve and then plunged the vest into the creamy water. I let it soak for about 10 minutes, rinsed, squeezed a bunch, then rolled it in a towel to speed drying.
Everything came out super soft and ready to wear. Total time spent doing the deed -- maybe 20 minutes. Not a bad investment of time considering the time spent knitting everything. And everything is so soft and smells ready to wear.
Now that really wasn't that painful, was it?

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