CARE OF MERINO WOOL SWEATERS: We recommend that Merino wool sweaters be dry cleaned in order to avoid shrinkage although they may also be hand washed by those with experience in washing fine wool in cool tap water with any economical hair shampoo and then rinse thoroughly in cool water. Once clean squeeze out as much water as possible without twisting. Then place the sweater lengthwise on a clean towel and roll up the sweater in the towel and either squeeze by hand to get out a maximum of water (this may require more than one towel) or place the sweater rolled in the towel around the agitator in the washing machine on SPIN only and spin out the excess water. Then unroll and lay flat to dry on any clean flat surface, turning as needed. Usual drying time is about 24 hours depending on the weather. Wool knits should never be washed with a detergent, soaked, machine washed (even on the wool cycle) or machine dried as that will result in shrinkage and felting. We do not advise using Woolite or Vel Rosita as those are detergents and will shrink fine Merino wool.

CARE OF MERINO WOOL PONCHOS: We definitely recommend dry cleaning for our hand loomed Merino wool ponchos to avoid shrinkage.

CARE OF CRIOLLO WOOL SWEATERS: We recommend that Criollo wool sweaters be washed according to the instructions for Merino wool, but with the addition of a tablespoonful of Olive oil in the rinse water to replace the lanolin that is lost through washing. These sweaters may also be dry cleaned if you don’t mind the loss of the lanolin. Double Knit wool sweaters such as the Starsky and Marilyn Monroe will best be dry cleaned to avoid being deformed by the weight of water they absorb in hand washing. (The double knit is apparent when both sides of the sweater look exactly the same and the sweater is double thickness.)

CARE OF CRIOLLO WOOL RUGS AND PONCHOS: It is always best to wash Criollo wool rugs and ponchos by hand to avoid shrinkage, but since they tend to be a bit heavy we have washed the smaller ones (maximum of 3’ x 6’) in the washing machine in cold water with a small amount of economical hair shampoo. We have taken the larger rugs to a laundromat with a commercial size washer along with some of the same shampoo and instructions to use cold water and no dryer. Front loading washing machines will do a better job of cleaning due to their “slapping”movement and will shrink the wool less than top loading machines with their back and forth movement. Some machines now have a “wool” cycle, which also shrinks woven wool less. We do not use Woolite or Vel Rosita since they are basically liquid detergents and detergents shrink wool more. The cold water and hair shampoo avoid excessive shrinkage although we have noticed that after many washings some shrinkage does become noticeable. We advise drying on the line after spinning out the excess water in the washing machine. If you would rather not have any shrinkage at all it is necessary to have your rugs and ponchos dry cleaned.

BEWARE: Clorox should never be used to clean wool. It will dissolve the wool if used directly and will weaken the fibers even when diluted.

BEWARE 2: If there might be moths in your area when hot weather arrives and wool items are not in constant use we recommend cleaning them before storing in a sealed plastic bag. Moths love wool due to the lanolin which their worms feed on by chewing up the wool. Criollo wool is more susceptible as it has more lanolin. However, all wool has some so it is best to take precautions against the damage that could happen.