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How do you test for wool?


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I am felting a purse, and I am unable to tell if the skein of yarn I am using is wool. The label is long gone, but it feels similar to the other wool I am using. Is there any way to test to see if it is acrylic or wool, or do I have to go and buy another ball (that would suck since I only need a small amount)?

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I actually read about this somewhere. I'll have to think on it, but it had something to do with taking a piece of the yarn and lighting the end with a match. I believe that if it is acrylic it will melt and if it is wool it will burn slightly.

 

Oops, here I found this on the internet, it was what I was thinking of!

 

There are at least two ways of telling if your yarn is wool or acrylic.

1) take a tiny snip of yarn, light it with a match. If it smells like burning hair, it's wool. If it smells like plastic, it's acrylic.

2) put a few inches of yarn in a small jar of chlorine bleach. If it's wool it will dissolve. If it is acrylic it won't. If it is a blend, it will look like part of it has dissolved.

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Thanks everyone! I will try both methods...fire and bleach. I think it is Merino wool that I got at Michaels, and it kind of looks like the other Merino wool I have, but another color. On the other hand it might be some I got from the Salvation Army, and they take their labels off, so I wouldn't know what it was. Fingers crossed that it is wool tho.:)

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