Potholders - HELP!

[CDBear]

I crocheted and felted these two potholders last night. I followed the pattern on Lion Brand's website, but they didn't felt up as nicely as I thought they would. I used Cascade Yarns, which is what I used for my Hook Case. The hook case came out great, but I used an H on it, and I used a K for the potholders. I'm going to run them through a 3rd wash/dry cycle to see if I can get them any smaller, but I think they are going to be rather large still. Nice hotpads, I suppose......

Any suggestions?

I am going to try again to make the potholders, using an H hook and maybe fewer stitches.........

[MullersLaneFarm]

I've found HDC felts better than SC - what stitch was used??

 

Very nice looking!

[CDBear]

Thanks!

I used single crochet.......I've not used anything but singles, but maybe on the second try, I can use half doubles......

[sherryzzz]

From your pictures, the potholders don't look felted enough. I would definitely run them through again - maybe do two hot water wash cycles in row before you rinse. Also, make sure you have something like jeans in the washer for extra agitation and be sure to add a little baking soda or laundry soap (not detergent).

[harmonise]

laundry soap (not detergent).

 

hmmm, what's the difference? i just bought wool to do my first felting project (AA's Fuzzy Felted Slippers from last week)...very nervous about trying felting:eek

[CDBear]

I put them in a pillowcase and washed with a load of towels - btw, I have the cleanest gosh-darned towels in town now!! ......with regular laundry soap (liquid Purex). I followed the same proceedure for my hook case. I didn't think there would be any difference in felting, since both are made from the same brand of yarn.

The good news is that the lady I made them for loves them the way they are. She wants them for large hot pads, but wants me to try to felt them again.

I've started again, using an H hook.........we'll see......

[lhasaapsolady]

They are very pretty, even if they don't shrink any more they are still eyecatching.

[MullersLaneFarm]

I use detergent for felting. The addition of baking powder does help (but I don't know why - pH maybe??)

 

Soap is a combination of oils and lye that creates salt (soap). Detergents are synthetic surfecants (sp?)

 

Jeans always go in the washer for me - towels shed too much lint

[angieInCA]

I would wash them again and lighten the load. What I mean is make sure they have enough room to move around and get alot of aggitation. I would put them in the washer with just 1 or 2 towels nad enough water to ensure lots of room to move. I always use a handfull of baking soda and very little detergent.

 

The baking soda relaxes the fibers and allows the scales to open up and join to one another creating a tighter fulling process. The items I have used bakingsoda with always felt much tighter thean the ones when I didn't use baking soda.

[CDBear]

Thanks, y'all!!!!

Angie, I'm going to try the baking soda tonite!!

[sherryzzz]

Like Angie said, in order for items to felt properly, you need need to change the ph balance - baking soda (which is what I always use) or soap will do this. Detergent will not. Also like Angie said, you need to have enough room in your washer for your item to really move around so that the wool rubs against itself a lot - lots of agitation will help your items felt better. But you still need something, like jeans, to help with the agitation (I don't use towels, either, because of the lint that can get embedded in your beautiful wool project).

 

Then you need hot water, and time! I have found with my washer that I need to run through the wash cycle at least 3 times in a row before I rinse in order to get my projects fully felted.

 

I never put my items in the dryer. I prefer to tug and pull them into shape, and then drape them over a form (a cardboard cereal box stuffed with plastic bags and then covered in plastic works well for me), and then let dry naturally - takes at least a day and a half to dry. But then my felted items hold the shape I want them to - instead of coming out all wonky from the dryer.

[angieInCA]

I have been using towels cause I don't like washing my jeans in hot water.

 

I put my wool items in a zippered pillow case (got mine at K-Mart for $2.50). The pillow case allows enough room for the item to move around and protects it from lint from the towels and protects my washer pump and drain from wool lint build-up.

 

I did try using blue-jeans once but the blue dye from the jeans (they were pretty new) transfered to the wool.

[MullersLaneFarm]

The baking soda relaxes the fibers and allows the scales to open up and join to one another creating a tighter fulling process. The items I have used bakingsoda with always felt much tighter thean the ones when I didn't use baking soda.

 

 

Ahhh, thanks for the info - I was always curious about that! I've found that felting with baking soda will create a tighter felt also.

[JCB]

When I felt I use an old, old pair of jeans that are so torn up I don't wear them anymore. They must be the cleanest jeans in the country because all I do is wash them... LOL. I also throw in a tennis ball to help with agitation. I use Ivory Snow, which is soap.

 

I've felted with Cascade 220 and usually had to run it through the washer two or three times. I like no stitching to show on my felted items.

 

One other variable is how hot your water is. I turn my water heater up about 1/2 hour before I felt. Or, you could dump a kettle full of boiling water into the machine. I never machine dry my items... I let them dry naturally.

 

Joan