Wool base layers and odor

[fallstoclimb]

I love these things, especially the early days where you can wear the same shirt 5 days in a row, including on your bike commute, without it picking up any odor.  (Not that I would ever do that, of course.)

Unfortunately I've noticed that after a couple of years, they pick up sort of a permafunk in the pits.  It's especially bad in base layers I wear horse riding, because it gets exposed to both exertion-sweat and nervous-sweat. 

Has anyone figured out a way to get odor like this out of wool or is this just sort of the tradeoff for those blessed early days?

[Rubic]

I hand wash with Kookaburra wool wash, lightly rinse, then hang dry.

http://www.amazon.com/Kookaburra-KB-16-Wash-16-Ounce/dp/B0007CQ6UE

[GuitarStv]

Soak for at least an hour in oxy-clean and water before you run the wash.  (It's the only thing that would keep my very heavy weight BJJ and Judo gis from constantly stinking after being drenched in sweat several hours a week.)

[Villanelle]

A presoak in vinegar works with many smells.  Also, consider googling tips on how to wash cloth diapers and apply any and all that make sense. 

[fallstoclimb]

Thanks for the tips. I use vinegar for other clothes but wasn't sure if it might damage the wool. I'm going to start with the Kookaburra and then move to oxyclean and vinegar.

The other thing I use to get out odors is to wash in hot water, but my wool all says to use cold. Will a cold soak work?

[Rubic]

The other thing I use to get out odors is to wash in hot water, but my wool all says to use cold. Will a cold soak work?

Yes, I cold soak my woolies in Kookaburra.  Since it contains tea tree oil (a natural fungicide), I only rinse them lightly.  I like how they smell afterward.

[RetiredAt63]

I don't know how much the vinegar will help with odours, but protein fibres (wool, silk, alpaca, etc.) actually do better in a slightly acid wash/rinse.  Vinegar is your friend.  It cuts the suds during rinsing as well.

Wool can take hot water, and is washed hot to get the lanolin out when it is processed, but that opens up the tiny scales on each fibre.  If it is then put into cooler water, all those scales catch on each other - and you have felt!  If you do need to wash in warm water, be very gentle with the fabric, and let the water cool before you rinse it. The rinse water needs to be at least as warm as the wash water, and again be very gentle.  Push/squeeze the water out, wrap in a towel and walk on it type gentle, no wringing it out.  Lay flat to dry, of course.

[MayDay]

This doesn't necessarily directly apply, but we (really, I, since I do the laundry) have huge issues with H's exercise shirts getting nasty armpit funk.

I undertook an extensive study of all the options and here are my conclusions:

1.  Deodorant/antiperspirant with fake chemical perfumes makes it way way worse.  Either don't wear it, or get some hippy shit that doesn't have fake chemical scents.

2.  air dry is better than machine dry (probably already doing that with wool)

3.  Hang it out in the bright sun to dry every single wash and you will get rid of the stink almost entirely.  But it is still there lurking, so if you have a few cloudy/rainy weeks in a row, it will come back. 

4.  Soaking in lots of stuff and using stuff like Tide Febreeze detergent did nothing.  Except that Febreeze shit (which is heavily positively reviewed online) adds more chemical stink.  So actually made it worse. 

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

Bac-out may work if nothing else does. It's an enzymatic cleaner. People that use wool covers over cloth diapers swear by it, and THAT is some stink, my friend.

I also find that air-drying OUTDOORS, even in the shade, is helpful because fresh air is good at sanitizing.

[Greenroller]

Bac-out may work if nothing else does. It's an enzymatic cleaner. People that use wool covers over cloth diapers swear by it, and THAT is some stink, my friend.

I also find that air-drying OUTDOORS, even in the shade, is helpful because fresh air is good at sanitizing.

Ditto the Bac-Out. Love it!

[Catomi]

We've used wool diaper covers over cloth diapers. I've never used Bac Out on them. I use fels naptha and HOT water. The thing with wool is that when it's wet and it encounters friction or abrupt changes in temperature, it can felt (this seems to be much less likely with wool that has a percentage of spandex or other stretchy fiber in it, as I've had at least one wool cover go through the diaper laundry and believe me, that's pretty heavy duty washing). So if you wash on hot, you want to rinse with the same temperature. I'd advise against scrubbing too much, because that can also cause felting, but if you're wearing it for exercise and the armpits aren't already felted then it should be able to handle some scrubbing.

I usually soak it thoroughly in hot water, drain, then refill the sink with hot water and scrub with fels. Let it sit ten minutes, rinse with three changes of hot water, then squeeze out as much water as possible by hand. If it's still pretty wet or you need it dry soon then you can roll it in a towel or put it through a spin cycle on the washing machine, then dry on the rack.

ETA: if you use fels, wear gloves. It can be hard on your hands, though it's great for getting out almost anything that's gotten on our diaper covers to date.

[NinetyFour]

Following.

[smalllife]

We've used wool diaper covers over cloth diapers. I've never used Bac Out on them. I use fels naptha and HOT water. The thing with wool is that when it's wet and it encounters friction or abrupt changes in temperature, it can felt (this seems to be much less likely with wool that has a percentage of spandex or other stretchy fiber in it, as I've had at least one wool cover go through the diaper laundry and believe me, that's pretty heavy duty washing). So if you wash on hot, you want to rinse with the same temperature. I'd advise against scrubbing too much, because that can also cause felting, but if you're wearing it for exercise and the armpits aren't already felted then it should be able to handle some scrubbing.

I usually soak it thoroughly in hot water, drain, then refill the sink with hot water and scrub with fels. Let it sit ten minutes, rinse with three changes of hot water, then squeeze out as much water as possible by hand. If it's still pretty wet or you need it dry soon then you can roll it in a towel or put it through a spin cycle on the washing machine, then dry on the rack.

ETA: if you use fels, wear gloves. It can be hard on your hands, though it's great for getting out almost anything that's gotten on our diaper covers to date.

Interesting.  I'd always been told to never use hot water on wool as it would cause it to shrink (although that may have just been talking about the dryer).  Is there no effect on the shape or size doing this method?

I've got some shirts I was about to give up on: combination of holes and pit stank - haven't used chemical deodorant in their lifetime, so it's just nervous sweat.

[Catomi]

Interesting.  I'd always been told to never use hot water on wool as it would cause it to shrink (although that may have just been talking about the dryer).  Is there no effect on the shape or size doing this method?

I've got some shirts I was about to give up on: combination of holes and pit stank - haven't used chemical deodorant in their lifetime, so it's just nervous sweat.

I have successfully used hot water to wash wool covers with spandex content, as well as handknit covers that are 100% non-superwash wool (ie wool that is prone to felting). If you are too rough scrubbing the hand knits, they can felt/shrink (I had one pair where the crotch felted just from being worn while damp). If you have abrupt temperature changes, the hand knits are also more likely to felt/shrink. Interestingly, I think the way the yarn is spun has an effect on how easily wool will felt, because I've washed some newborn woolies with very soft, gently spun yarn (yarn that was essentially roving) and they were much more prone to felting than others knit with less soft/more tightly spun yarn.

If you put wet wool in a dryer, I believe the tumbling (friction) is what actually felts it rather than the heat. Though the heat plus tumbling may make felting happen faster, I don't know. The most I've deliberately done with machines and wool is to spin water out; because that doesn't involve tumbling, I haven't had any problems with felting/shrinkage.

If in doubt, use cooler temps and be gentler. But the only pair I've had be ruined was the pair of handknits that went through the wash with the diapers. I think they made it through the dryer, too, before I found them (darn helpful kids adding things to the laundry hamper). Yeah, they're doll sized now.

[smalllife]

Interesting.  I'd always been told to never use hot water on wool as it would cause it to shrink (although that may have just been talking about the dryer).  Is there no effect on the shape or size doing this method?

I've got some shirts I was about to give up on: combination of holes and pit stank - haven't used chemical deodorant in their lifetime, so it's just nervous sweat.

I have successfully used hot water to wash wool covers with spandex content, as well as handknit covers that are 100% non-superwash wool (ie wool that is prone to felting). If you are too rough scrubbing the hand knits, they can felt/shrink (I had one pair where the crotch felted just from being worn while damp). If you have abrupt temperature changes, the hand knits are also more likely to felt/shrink. Interestingly, I think the way the yarn is spun has an effect on how easily wool will felt, because I've washed some newborn woolies with very soft, gently spun yarn (yarn that was essentially roving) and they were much more prone to felting than others knit with less soft/more tightly spun yarn.

If you put wet wool in a dryer, I believe the tumbling (friction) is what actually felts it rather than the heat. Though the heat plus tumbling may make felting happen faster, I don't know. The most I've deliberately done with machines and wool is to spin water out; because that doesn't involve tumbling, I haven't had any problems with felting/shrinkage.

If in doubt, use cooler temps and be gentler. But the only pair I've had be ruined was the pair of handknits that went through the wash with the diapers. I think they made it through the dryer, too, before I found them (darn helpful kids adding things to the laundry hamper). Yeah, they're doll sized now.

Cool, thanks!