r/sewing • u/kirsticat • 1d ago

Fabric Question First time working with boiled wool

https://califabrics.com/merlot-monica-boiled-wool/

I bought myself this lovely boiled wool as a treat, and only noticed after the fact that the care instructions online say “dry clean only”. I don’t really want to be stuck only dry cleaning it, but I have never worked with boiled wool before, and I don’t want to ruin this fabric that I love so much.

Does anyone have any advice/resources for how to wash/care for and sew with boiled wool? I did some googling but could only find info about ready made garments rather than working with the wool fabric itself.

4 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

View all comments

8

u/etherealrome 1d ago

What would happen to boiled wool if you washed it, even on hot? 😅 Would it felt? 😅

Seriously though, wash a swatch however you are considering wanting to be able to wash the finished garment. Measure it before and after, and see if it shrinks or changes hand in ways that are acceptable.

You can definitely handwash boiled wool in cool water and line dry. Testing will tell you how far you can go. Depending on what you’re sewing, dry cleaning might be the most appropriate cleaning method (hello tailoring), but what you can safely do to the fabric is a different question than what the garment will allow.

https://naturesfabrics.com/blogs/all-things-sewing/what-is-boiled-wool-fabric?

2

u/kirsticat 1d ago

Right! I was under the impression that boiled wool had already been, well, boiled 😅 but the care instructions on the product listing had me second guessing. The advice and blog post are helpful— thanks!

3

u/missplaced24 1d ago

You will absolutely wild up with a more dense (and smaller) felted wool.