Evening star., 1950-08-02
TO UNSHRINK WOOLENS.
AZALEAS?
CII ITEP IMGO

(From C. S. F., Alerdndria.J
I have received more requests
for the method for redeeming
shrunken woolens than I can
possibly answer by mail since the
directions are rather lengthy to
write out. Therefore, I am re-
questing that this be published
again in our column, and hope the
ladies who requested the informa-
ton by mail will accept this as
their answer BY the way, I
thought it was most thoughtful of
some who wrote that they inclosed
return postage. Had I answered
all by mail this would have been
quite an item.
Arm yourself with plenty of pa
tience, because my method is
not for the weak-Willed. 1t is a
slow process if done without seri-
Gus damage to the fibers, thus
running the springy quality of the
wool. It helps to know why this
method works to know that wool
shrinks because of the nature of
the fibers. 1t is very curly-this
gives it character of springiness
and f1uffiness-and hot water
makes the curls curlier, and also
hardens the f1bers. The agita-
ton of washing makes the curls
become entangled. and as more
and more fibers on adjoining yarns
become intertwined and tangled,
with the heat of the water to
make them curl tighter, and be-
come hard upon drying, you end
up with the matted, hard, hope
less mess of anything wool which
has been repeatedly washed in
correctly. This is why luke-Warm
water is always specified.
If you are using water of the
correct temperature and still get
ting shrinkage, it is probably be-
cause you move the garment
around too much as you wash it.
The least agitation possible is
best. I use a vessel as large as
I have and fold the garment as
few times as will permit it to
lie fiat in the bottom of the YES
sci. Then I pat the suds through
with a pressing motion, occasion
ally rubbing another portion on
top and pat it clean. and so on
until all is clean. If it is only
slightly soiled (and woolens
should never be permitted to be-
come very dirty because If rub
bing is necessary you are nearly
sure to get considerable shrink
age), one to folding is all that is
necessary if you rinse suds as you
should. I think squeezing is al
most as bad as rubbing to make
it shrink, so I never even do that.
When clean. pour off as much
water as possible. roll the garment
into a long roll, cover with an
other towel, and roll with rolling
pin to extract water. block to
correct size and allow to dry.
Sock and sweater forms are ex-
cellent insurance.
All the above is how to pre-
vent shrinkage; now for what to
do when you already have 1t.
Remember, all the rules above
apply to the process below:
Prepare a very. very rich,
billowy suds with pure white gran
ulated or faxed soap in luke-warm
water. Dip your garment into the
suds and squeeze the suds through
it with as little agitation as posi-
BILE. When you have worked it
through you will find that the
material becomes soft and fabby,
and that if pulled gently between
the hands you can feel it "give"
a little. The soap has made the
fbers slick enough that some of
the entangled ones begin to slip
away from each other. Roll out
some of the suds-do not rinse
and lay the garment on towel,
and gently stretch it as much as
you can. You may be able to get
it back to its original size the first
time. but you may have to repeat
this whole process many times