Felting!

[indeliblesasha]

I am going to be felting tonight, for the very first time (on purpose ;).

I am doing the lopi tote (ravelry link, sign-in required) but I used 11 needles instead of 13, though I am knitting it veeeery loosely.

I have a front loader that can't be interrupted mid-cycle. Any tips on how to keep it from shrinking into a tiny little handbag instead of a moderate sized tote? Maybe do the wash with warm, instead of hot?

And is 7th Generation laundry soap okay to use?

Thanks!

Comments

[sedge]

The key to felting is AHA:

Alkalinity, Heat, Agitation.

Any soap or detergent will provide the first. You've got the heat part covered.

Agitation: Front loaders agitate less than top-loaders. You're more likely to need to run it through again than to need to stop mid-cycle. In fact, you'll be better off if you add jeans or heavy towels to increase the agitation.

Other option: get yourself a clean plunger and a bucket and use this method from Knitty. This is what I prefer to do, as another owner of a front-loading machine.

This is not to say that you can't felt with a front-loader - I've done it. But you're also not going to need to stop mid-cycle, in my experience.

ETA: Alkalinity makes all the little scales on the wool stick out more and catch hold of each other more easily.

[indeliblesasha]

Thank you :D I'll probably run it through with a load of jeans :D

[sedge]

And make sure to show us how it comes out!

[indeliblesasha]

Oh yes. <3

[beachlass]

I've felted in my front loader, and have had to run things through twice, rather than have them felt too quickly.

[indeliblesasha]

This is a pretty wimpy machine, too, I think you're both right. Makes it easier for me :D

[holyschist]

The felting action has more to do with agitation than the heat of the water, so I would suggest using warm water but more importantly, the least agitate-y setting the machine has (or not: have never felted in a front-loader). If it comes out a little small, you could also block it while it's wet to stretch it out some. It might also be possible to use a semi-rigid plastic insert to help hold the shape in the machine, but I'm not sure.

I think any kind of laundry soap should be fine. It's the alkalinity of the detergent that opens the scales on the wool and aids the felting action.

Depending on how much felting you want, it might not be too much work to felt it by hand in a basin. But I'm a control freak. :-)

[indeliblesasha]

Ha. You've used this machine, do you think I can felt in it?

[holyschist]

I cannot remember using that washing machine, although I'm sure I did. I haven't done a lot of felting, just enough to be a paranoid control freak who would rather hand-felt (although, uh, I have a knitted Tudor flat cap that was originally intended for F.?).

I guess I would be inclined to be conservative about the settings and see if it needed more felting after the first go.

[indeliblesasha]

That's my thought. If it were a more important piece I'd probably ease into it. I think I'm just going to toss it in with my jeans tonight, honestly. We'll see how it goes LOL

[holyschist]

Good luck! Post photos?

[indeliblesasha]

Duh. :P

[sedge]

Had another thought: You can always felt a swatch to see how your particular machine does.

[indeliblesasha]

That would be brilliant, right? Except I'm worried I'm gonna run out of yarn as it is, heh.

Oh well, it was discount, discontinued, two tiny skeins. It's not going to be a huge loss if I screw it up LOL

[sedge]

Ha, yes - I've been there.

Then I would do as holyschist suggests and stick it in your washer on the delicate cycle to see what happens.

Different front loaders do act differently and you can always run it through again if it's not done the first time.

[wired]

Dryer-felting! Get it wet, chuck it in the dryer with some jeans or towels. It takes longer, but I swear it works, and your control is very fine.

[indeliblesasha]

Ooooh. That might work too. You guys gave me awesome options, thank you.

[sedge]

It's been so long since I had a working dryer that I forgot this option. Oops!

It does work. Added bonus: any loose fibers get caught in the lint trap instead of potentially clogging the washer's drain.

[wired]

My partner and I documented it here: http://knitlikeapirate.com/techniques/felting.shtml