Felting Tip to Keep the Roto-Rooter Man Away!

Here's a little unsolicited advice....

NEVER, EVER felt wool in your washing machine without FIRST enclosing your project in a securely closed WHITE pillowcase or zippered laundry bag!

I am shocked over how often I come across felting instructions on websites, blogs, & patterns that fail to mention this important step in the felting process. This is a major omission that, over time, can produce catastrophic consequences for the felter & for everyone who lives in the felter's household. The omission is unintentional, I think - the result of the pattern writer forgetting who's in their audience & simply assuming that it's "common knowledge" thing that doesn't need to be restated. I've heard tales of woe from more than a few Newbies who learned this felting lesson the hard way - by writing a big fat check to the washer repairman or to Roto-Rooter.

All wool yarns cast off fibers during all that agitation in the washing machine. Some yarns, like mohair, produce an incredible amount of balled up lint. Those cast off fibers felt up into little nasty balls that can clog up a washing machine pump & drain pipe like you wouldn't believe! And, while it will take many felting projects to do so, they can even congeal into a mass so large & so impermeable that it can clog up your main sewer line. In any case, be prepared to pay through the nose to fix the damage that could have been prevented with an old pillowcase & a rubber band.

Enlcosing your project in that pillowcase or lingerie bag is a crucial first step to felting happiness. It not only protects your project, it protects your wallet.

Pass it on....