[never behind]

I am working through my spring sweater washing, and I have been using a no rinse liquid called “soak” which I believe someone on this board mentioned. Now all of my sweaters are no more than 18 months old, as I started my obsession in winter 2020. My process has been to soak the sweaters in cold to cool water for 15 minutes, before kneading them for a minute or so. I have noticed that the water is fairly discolored when the 15 minutes is up. Has anyone else ever had this issue? I’m trying to determine if this is normal for newish sweaters, or if the new product is bleeding the color out of my sweaters.

 

[EclecticSr.]

I am working through my spring sweater washing, and I have been using a no rinse liquid called "soak" which I believe someone on this board mentioned. Now all of my sweaters are no more than 18 months old, as I started my obsession in winter 2020. My process has been to soak the sweaters in cold to cool water for 15 minutes, before kneading them for a minute or so. I have noticed that the water is fairly discolored when the 15 minutes is up. Has anyone else ever had this issue? I'm trying to determine if this is normal for newish sweaters, or if the new product is bleeding the color out of my sweaters.

It would help to know what they are made of, wool, cotton etc.

 

[never behind]

It would help to know what they are made of, wool, cotton etc.

All the sweaters are wool.

 

[EclecticSr.]

I have never experienced wool sweaters bleeding color.
Perhaps it is the product you're using. They claim no rinsing, that in itself would raise a red flag for me.
Give Woolite a try. That's what it's made for.

A few variables might be in play, are they from the same manufacturer, are you soaking individual or all at once. Process of elimination. Hope the sweaters suffered no real harm.

 

[never behind]

I have never experienced wool sweaters bleeding color.
Perhaps it is the product you're using. They claim no rinsing, that in itself would raise a red flag for me.
Give Woolite a try. That's what it's made for.

A few variables might be in play, are they from the same manufacturer, are you soaking individual or all at once. Process of elimination. Hope the sweaters suffered no real harm.

It happened across sweaters from at least 3 different manufacturers. I can't tell the sweaters are any worse off. I am going to re-wash one with some Woolite or baby shampoo and see what happens. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

 

[fishertw]

I have about 6-8 lambswool v neck sweaters from O'Connells and Barbour that are washed about once or twice a year.

I use Woolite in cold water in a sink. I swirl them around and knead them much like a cat does then lightly wring them out, then lay them out flat on towels and roll them in the towels to soak up added water.

The water is usually tinged just a bit particularly by Burgundy, dark green and navy and the colors appear (to me) to be brighter after they are dried. After rolling them out with towels two times, I hang them on a railing which is over our living room to air dry. I have never noticed any leaching of color on the white towels.

While the colors always seem a bit brighter, I have not noticed a significant fading of the sweaters. I have had several for about 6-8 years and this keeps them in good shape. Hope this is not too detailed, but I learned this from my wife who does the same with her cashmere sweaters.

Good Luck, Tom

 

[EclecticSr.]

I have about 6-8 lambswool v neck sweaters from O'Connells and Barbour that are washed about once or twice a year. I use Woolite in cold water in a sink. I swirl them around and knead them much like a cat does then lightly wring them out, then lay them out flat on towels and roll them in the towels to soak up added water. The water is usually tinged just a bit particularly by Burgundy, dark green and navy and the colors appear (to me) to be brighter after they are dried. After rolling them out with towels two times, I hang them on a railing which is over our living room to air dry. I have never noticed any leaching of color on the white towels. While the colors always seem a bit brighter, I have not noticed a significant fading of the sweaters. I have had several for about 6-8 years and this keeps them in good shape. Hope this is not too detailed, but I learned this from my wife who does the same with her cashmere sweaters.
Good Luck, Tom

Your experience mirrors mine and process mirrors mine. Stay with what works.
It's been working for me all these years and Woolite has been around as long.

 

[never behind]

Tom reminded me that I haven’t seen any bleeding into the towels I’ve used, so I guess that’s good. I did wash one of my sweaters just now and didn’t have the bleeding. I guess that solved that issue.

PSA - don’t use “Soak” on your sweaters.

 

[Andy]

neverbehind:

With nearly 1000 posts to your credit I assume you must have The Encyclopedia of Men's Clothes where in the Clothes Care Chapter you will find some tips, like using vinegar in the cold water for washing anything that might bleed.

Vinegar sets the color!