Wool shrink questions

[catwoman]

Hi.I was wondering if wool shrinks when it's in warm water or hot water?also can a person use any detergent for it? Does a person really need to buy a special wool detergent for it?what do you guys think?does cotton yarn shrink too?.

[Granny Square]

It's not just the heat of the water, it's the agitation.  So if you put a wool hat into hot or warm water and just let it sit, it probably won't shrink (I use warm).  Just let it soak and be really gentle with it.  There's soap that you don't have to rinse out, but I use regular liquid hand soap (I've never been able to find the other stuff in stores).  Also, don't wring it, gently squeeze (even that's too strong a word) the water out.  Agitation, wringing lets the scales (not sure if that's the right word) of the wool fiber hook themselves together which causes the shrinking.  Never put it in the dryer. 

Cotton yarn...I haven't noticed it shrinking, but I've only made 1 garment with it (lots of doilies, tho).  What I HAVE noticed is that cotton will stretch a lot as you wear it, and then in goes back to normal when you wash & dry it.  (I throw the garment in the washer & dryer, but not the doilies!).  I use cold or warm with cotton, only because it's not always color fast.

[catwoman]

HI  .Thanks for the amazing help.You must be a expert at  crocheting and knitting things

[Granny Square]

You are welcome! Heh, not an expert, just been doing it for a long time.  Experienced, I guess--been there, done that, learned from mistakes!