Cleaning yarn

[Tiffany]

I won a contest at another crochet group and received some beautiful yarn from a home where someone smoked. Does anyone have a suggestion for how to wash the yarn to get rid of the smell?

My thought was to wash it according to the directions on the wrapper in a lingerie bag. Does that sound like the correct way to do it?

(I didn't want to post this question there so that I wouldn't hurt the giver's feelings...)

[Donna]

I'd be afraid it would get all tangled up in the washer, even in a lingerie bag. Here's my suggestion: I'd try winding it into a hank -- across a square chair back or something like that. Tie the hank in four places with scraps of yarn. Then hand wash it and rewind it like they do here: bagateller.tripod.com/tips/reusing_yarn.html (http://bagateller.tripod.com/tips/reusing_yarn.html).

[Julie]

Here's a dumb question but I don't know the answer, I haven't tried. What about using Febreeze? Would that have any benefit at all or waste time towards a good washing-by-hand?

[Donna]

Not a dumb question. Myself, I wouldn't like Febreeze for something I'd be working closely with like yarn. To me, it's too strongly scented and I'd probably be sneezing the whole way through.

Also, if you spray the skein, the Febreze is only going to be on the outside, and the interior will still be stinky. You'd actually have to saturate the skein and that would take a lot of Febreeze.

On that note, though, I've found two things that have no scent of their own and are excellent for getting out odors. The first and absolutely best is Smells Begone. This is truly miracle stuff. The odor, no matter what, will disappear. It's hard to find, but they have it at gaiam.com and myfreakyfamily.com.

Smells Begone at Gaiam.com (http://www.gaiam.com/retail/product.asp?product%5Fid=06%2D0061+MSTR)

Smells Begone at My Freaky Family (http://www.myff.com/smelbegset.html)

The other thing is Nature's Miracle. This is really great, but not quite as good as Smells Begone. It is meant for pet odors (basically, urine on the carpet) and it is A+ for that. If you have a local pet shop, they will almost definietly have it. If you don't, there's always TheFerretStore.com.

Nature's Miracle at TheFerretStore.com (http://www.ferretstore.com/nm-001.html)

But, again, to use these on yarn, you'd have to saturate the skein. So, I think hand washing is the best way to go. Sounds like a lot of trouble, but it is really easy after you do it the first time.

[Donna]

Tiff, I was just thinking. . . if you have a lot of skeins (which would take a lot of time to unwind into hanks and rewind into balls), you could just hand wash as is rather than winding into a hank. They'll take longer to dry, but that should be okay.

And you could dry them faster by doing this. Gently squeeze (don't wring) all the water you can out of the skein. Take a clean, dry towel, wrap the skein in it, put it on the floor, and stand on it to squish the water out of the skein and into the towel. Do it again with another dry towel if needed. If you have a lot of skeins, this will take a lot of towels, but you can just throw the towels in the dryer and reuse them.

[Tiffany]

Thank you for all of the good advice! I'm going to try hand washing them today. I got 7-8 skeins of a beautiful Phildar yarn, 4 skeins of a mohair-like yarn, and some rayon yarn, so I've got a busy day.

The best part is, my daughter has soccer practice tonight and the hubby will come home while we're gone and he's going to find this yarn everywhere drying... 8) I can just imagine the phone call I'm going to get :D

[Donna]

You're welcome, Tiff! Please let us know how it goes. Tell your husband it's my fault! :rollin

[Brenda Rolfe]

when i have had to wash yarn before i used it i put in a panty hose leg and tied a knot. then if you have more than one skein put another in the leg and tie a knot. when full cut off the panty part and wash and dry. IT Works.:manyheart

[snugsmontreal]

i got some REALLY smokey yarn on ebay (non-smoking my butt!) and i unwound it into hanks and hung them out on the back porch for about a week and they smelled fine after the thorough airing out

[esta]

I recieved a package and the smoke smell was overpowering. I was a bit shocked because I used to smoke until I had my first child and I never realised how strong the smell can be to non smokers.
I guess if the smell effects me, I must now officially be a non smoker.

I suggest fresh air and lots of it!

[karcher70]

Could you maybe try spraying it with Febreze? That stuff works wonders!:)