Question

What is the method used to wash woollens?

Give one precaution for washing woollens.

How should woollens be pressed?

Give one precaution for drying of woollens.

Explain the procedure of laundering a woollen cardigan.

Answer 1

1. Preparation: Examine the garments for tears, holes, stains, or foreign particles, and treat them accordingly. For knitted woollens, it is essential to trace their outline on brown paper before washing. Wool has high elasticity, which further increases when the garment is wet. So, the knitted woollen fabrics invariably lose their shape. Tracing helps restore the cloth to its original shape after it is washed and before it is dried.
2. Steeping: Steeping woollens is generally avoided because wool is a weak, elastic fabric. If required, they can be soaked in cold water for 5-10 minutes. Even lukewarm water is harmful to wool.
3. Washing: Wool is a weak protein fibre and is highly sensitive to alkalis. Washing it with even mild soaps may harm it. Only neutral soaps, reetha, or liquid detergents specially formulated for woollens should be used to wash them.
   Moreover, being an extremely weak fibre, wool is also susceptible to abrasion. It must be washed with a very gentle hand, using the tender kneading and squeezing method. Otherwise, its fibres will break.
4. Rinsing: Once washed, the extra soap is gently squeezed out from the woollen fabric by pressing it flat between the palms. It is then rinsed off several times in clean, running water. Woollens should never be twisted or wrung. Bleaching and fading of colours in woollens can be prevented by adding vinegar to the rinsing water.
5. Drying: Since wool has high absorbency, it retains a lot of water and becomes heavy because of its low strength; it cannot be wrung tightly to remove excess water. It is therefore rolled tightly in a towel and squeezed so that the towel absorbs excess water without straining the wool fibre. Then, it is spread flat within the outline marked for its original shape (made during the preparation stage) and is allowed to dry in the shade. Woollen fabrics should never be hung. Otherwise, their shape will be lost.
6. Pressing: Knitted woollens, being highly elastic, tend to lose their shape on ironing. Therefore, such clothes are not ironed but are simply pressed. A thin, moist muslin cloth is spread over the woollen cloth and pressed vertically with a hot iron at 100°F. When the area under the muslin cloth is pressed, it dries and absorbs moisture from the woollen cloth beneath. The iron is then lifted, the muslin cloth is remoistened, and the process is repeated.