Care Recommendations – Washing Dog Hair Yarn Items
After I make an item out of dog hair yarn, I generally wash it to help the yarns adjust to their new configuration. However, someday you may wish to wash your treasure, so here are the directions.
It does not matter if an item is knit, crochet or woven, the washing directions are the same. Fill a sink, laundry tub, or bucket with hot water and add a squirt of Ivory dish detergent or dog shampoo. (I prefer Ivory, but any dish detergent that is not rough on your hands could be used.) Make sure the detergent is evenly dispersed in the water, but do not make bubbles.
Place the dog hair article in the water and gently help it submerge, or place a plate and a weight over it to hold it underwater. DO NOT AGITATE the dog hair! Let it soak for 20 – 30 minutes. REMOVE the dog hair article and drain the water. Fill the sink with water (the same temperature as the first time). Insert and submerge the dog hair article the same as for the detergent wash. Let soak for 20 – 30 minutes. This should be enough, but if the item is extremely dirty it would require an additional wash and rinse.
To neutralize the pH factor of the detergent it is wise to do a rinse with a ½ cup of vinegar OR some hair crème rinse. Submerge and soak again. Now do one final rinse to remove any excess vinegar or crème rinse.
Finally, take the dog hair article and roll it in a towel. Another option is to use the washing machine’s spin cycle. If you have a washer that has a spin cycle that does not spray water, you can use that spin cycle to spin the water out of the dog hair item. Then, lay the dog hair item flat or use the top of a clothes drying rack to let it air dry.
REMEMBER, NEVER SPRAY WATER ON THE ITEM OR AGITATE IT IN THE WATER as this will cause the item to felt.
When the item is almost dry you can place it in a dryer on AIR, no heat, for 10 or 20 minutes. This will cause the item to halo or get fuzzy. If you do not want a fuzzy item, DO NOT put it in the dryer. The first time you do this, there might be some shedding.
Do not store dog hair or dog hair items in plastic!