wool & silk in the clothes dryer?

[squeezebox]

So what are the rules for washing & drying wool and silk. I bought silk longies for sleeping, and will probably get wool blend tshirts for daytime. I'm almost tempted to bring the botom half of a milk jug to use as a sink, (laundry, bathing, kitchen) I bet that would get me a trail name.

[tiptoe]

I don't know what the rules are, but I never put either of these fabrics in the dryer, even at home. I'm old school, and I hang them on a clothesline or inside to dry. Check the labels on your garments for washing instrux, and when in doubt, be conservative with water/heat temps, especially with laundromat machines.

[Tuckahoe]

Honestly just follow the labels. Modern wool blends can usually be laundered just as any other garment. Just keep in mind that machine washing actually causes the most wear on a garment.

Personally when washing high wool content and my historic clothing I do it by hand in cool water, using hair conditioner. It was something I learned from a friend who was a Johnson and Johnson chemist, who reminded me that wool was hair and that conditioner was most effective at cleaning, was gentle and cheap.

After washing I just hang dry the clothes where they can get air or in front of a fan in the house.

[Prime Time]

If you are planning a thru hike, whatever you buy won't likely make it all the way anyway. I just threw my wool base layer and hiking shirt in the commercial dryers in town at the lowest settings and all was fine. I eventually tore and wore holes in the shirt, and sent the base layer home once I reached Virginia. The dryer didn't shrink either to the point where I noticed.

[Dogwood]

"So what are the rules for washing & drying wool and silk."

I honestly don't get it. First, you have the care labels, like on the "silk longies", you just bought for information- very terse and directed care directions. You can also read the wool care labels attached to these pieces in the store before you buy. Second, as much time you took to log on to WB, a general hiking information website, and type out your questions in a post, AND then sift through the individual responses to your questions, STILL possibly not getting direct answers to your questions, couldn't you have much more easily and in a more timely fashion received more directed care info by doing a Google search and/or reading the care labels?

[SCRUB HIKER]

If you are planning a thru hike, whatever you buy won't likely make it all the way anyway. I just threw my wool base layer and hiking shirt in the commercial dryers in town at the lowest settings and all was fine. I eventually tore and wore holes in the shirt, and sent the base layer home once I reached Virginia. The dryer didn't shrink either to the point where I noticed.

At home, I put wool and wool blends in the washer on cold and then hang-dry it, but you may not have the time and setup for that on a thru-hike. On the humid AT, it takes an eternity for anything to air-dry anyway (on the PCT it was sometimes 5 minutes, I'm not exaggerating). When I don't have the chance to hang just put wool/silk things in the dryer on the lowest heat. They've survived so far.

[Slo-go'en]

couldn't you have much more easily and in a more timely fashion received more directed care info by doing a Google search and/or reading the care labels?[/COLOR]

That's true for 90% of the questions asked on WB. I don't know if it's lazyness or just a reason to make a post. But then, WB is mostly a place for Q's and A's. I'm glad I had to figure out the answers to all my questions on my own, mostly by trial and error. Kinda makes me feel like I'm some kind of expert now :)

[Rain Man]

I'm almost tempted to bring the botom half of a milk jug to use as a sink, (laundry, bathing, kitchen) I bet that would get me a trail name.

That's just what Model-T did. Wrote about it in his book, I believe. :) And, IMHO, not a bad idea.

Rain:sunMan

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[Rain Man]

That's true for 90% of the questions asked on WB. I don't know if it's lazyness or just a reason to make a post. But then, WB is mostly a place for Q's and A's.

The ones that bother me the most are the ones that ask for authoritative, legal answers, asked of all us yahoos, when they should be directed "straight to the horse's mouth," the officials whose job it is to apply and enforce said laws and regulations, and who might not take kindly to "well, on WhiteBlaze, they said it would be okay." LOL

Rain:sunMan

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[10-K]

You can ask any question you want but if you're expecting a consensus well... that's something else.

I never dry any of my hiking clothing in the dryer. I let a maid at the Stratton Motel wash my clothes and she put my wool shirt in the dryer on high heat. I got it back it looked like it was for a 3 year old.

[Dogwood]

The ones that bother me the most are the ones that ask for authoritative, legal answers, asked of all us yahoos, when they should be directed "straight to the horse's mouth," the officials whose job it is to apply and enforce said laws and regulations, and who might not take kindly to "well, on WhiteBlaze, they said it would be okay." LOL

Rain:sunMan

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Welcome to the MIS-information age. I deal with it probably 50% of the time on every landscaping/exterior project as a Landscape Architect. Here are some of my favorite comments when I tell clients that mature tree(s), foundation plantings, irrigation system, pool/entertainment area, driveway, drainage system, grade, cut/fill/retaining wall(s), driveway, walkways, etc needs to be removed or redone: "but grandpa planted that tree"(an invasive brittle tree that grows 50 ft wide planted 6 ft from the house!), "but I just had Jose in the big white truck do my irrigation"(of course they tell me what a good price Jose charged and they never bothered checking references, portfolio, education?, insurance/licenses, professional affiliations, yrs in biz, etc!), "that's not what the salesperson told me down at the local Home Depot, plant nursery, landscape materials yard, etc", "my brother in law did the masonry work" followed by "didn't he do a good job?", etc No need to digress further!

[RCBear]

Buy em, wear em, wash em...repeat until you need to buy em again. No fuss no muss. Hang drying, hamd washing in cold water with hair conditioner etc...why bother?

Sent from my Galaxy Note 2 using Tapatalk 2

[Marta]

Not all wools are created equal. The closer it is to a state of nature, the more it will shrink and felt when washed. "Superwash" wool, however, will not shrink with washing and agitation. Most long underwear and socks are made of superwash wool these days, but you won't know without reading the label.

Silk is marvelous, but fairly delicate. It loses a lot of its strength when wet. Wear a pure silk shirt under a backpack and watch it develop holes everywhere it experiences friction, especially under the shoulder straps. Pure silk long underwear will have holes in it by the end of one winter, whereas wool lasts for a number of years, and synthetics last well past the point where I'm sick of looking at them. (We've got some Patagonia Capilene bought in 1993 that is still in decent shape.)

In short, as so many people have already said, the only way to know how to care for a particular garment is to follow the instructions printed on that garment. But if durability and usable life is an issue, synthetic is best, followed by pure wool, blends, and silk way down the list.

The best hiking clothing shouldn't NEED to go in the dryer--it should be hydrophobic, and be warm when wet. At worst, it should air dry quite quickly.

[colorado_rob]

Just one data point w.r.t. silk long underwear: I like the very light REI versions, 4 oz, warm enough for a layer in fairly cold weather. I tend to ignore labels and just wash/dry (AKA lazy), usually all clothes on low heat/gentle cycle. My first pair of silk's wore out very quickly. I bought another pair and now I am more gentle with this pair; I dry it for a few minutes, then pull it out and air dry the rest of the way. this pair shows no sign of coming apart like the first pair. I do the same for my Merion wool garments. I think this extends the life over pure machine wash/dry. So, my M.O. is kind of mixed; machine dry, but only for a few minutes to get a good start. Air takes care of the rest fairly quickly.

[Sheriff Cougar]

So what are the rules for washing & drying wool and silk. I bought silk longies for sleeping, and will probably get wool blend tshirts for daytime. I'm almost tempted to bring the botom half of a milk jug to use as a sink, (laundry, bathing, kitchen) I bet that would get me a trail name.

First of all read the label and never use fabric softener on any type of clothing that is supposed to be moisture wicking. The fabric softener will greatly reduce the ability of the fabric to wick moisture. Also, use low temp when drying.