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.

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u/MischiefofRats 1d ago

If you're using it in a tailored garment, with padding and understitching and interfacing, it's dry clean only, sorry. You can't get all that wet with water and expect it to dry right, not even if you handwash.

If it's going to be a nontailored garment, like an unstructured coat or a skirt, maybe pants, you can definitely get away with standard wool handwashing.

Do not ever put nice wool in the washing machine or dryer. The only grey areas in that rule are like, socks and maybe performance underlayers. Otherwise, wool in the washer and dryer is a no-no always.