Woolwash

For blocking or washing your wool knitted garments, there really is nothing better than woolwash. Some people try to get away with using washing machine detergent. If you’ve done it, you know it’s not a good idea. The main problem with washing machine detergent is that it lathers too much. You put a drop on your garment and it foams right up. This is no good. If you really refuse to part with $3.00 for woolwash, use a very small amount of dish soap. This won’t lather up too much and will clean your garment reasonably well.

Can you tell I love woolwash? It works so much better than any other alternatives – no suds and it restores the lanolin in your knitted items. My favorite kind is Kookaburra, it smells great and you can pick it up in most knitting shops. There are plenty of other brands too, and I even found a home recipe:

To wash a sinkful of woolens:Fill a mug with boiling water, and add a pea-sized dollop of lanolin. Add about 1/4 t. of shampoo and then stir briskly to suspend the melted lanolin in the liquid. You can also stir in a few drops of a favorite essential oil at this point - Lavender is nice and keeps moths away, as does Eucalyptus and Cedar oils.Add the cupful of "wool wash" to a sinkful of hot water, and submerge your woolen items. Squeeze the woolens gently a few times, then let them soak for about 10 minutes. Let the water out of the sink, and squeeze out the water. Rinse the woolens with clear warm water, squeeze out, then roll in a towel and lay flat to dry.

This is from http://hyenacart.com/FernandFaerie/. Check out their patterns for home-made tampons!