Downy shawl Orenburg prickly. Why does a downy scarf prick. How to wash, soften the wool so that it does not prick

We remove the prickliness of wool: how and in what to wash, freeze the product, dry it properly.

With the advent of cold weather, woolen items are probably the most favorite in the wardrobe of all our compatriots. Indeed, a good woolen thing is thin, light, and at the same time very warm. Only fleece items can compete with them, but due to the specific visual appearance, fleece is used for sewing a sports line, which is not suitable for everyone.

In this article, we'll show you how to care for woolen garments so that they don't cause discomfort and tingling when worn (a natural characteristic of wool, even merino wool).

What to do so that woolen things do not prick?

You bought a thing made of 100% wool, and everything would be fine if it were not for this unpleasant tingling. Have you been sold a defective item? Not at all, because the natural characteristic of wool is a slight tingling that human skin feels, especially children's. This happens because the coat resembles human hair, which is split and formed a “fluff”, it is these fluffy tips that irritate.

Scientists have proven that if both parents are not allergic, then things made of natural wool can be purchased without problems for a child from the first days. But what if it annoys even adults? To do this, there are several secrets of washing.

Option number 1

To wash woolen items, purchase a product marked "for washing woolen items" or "for wool." Both gels and powders are sold, but as practice shows, gels work better and soften the coat without damaging its structure. In addition, many housewives complain that with delicate washing, powder stains remain on woolen items.

The most popular and proven wool detergents remain Laska Wool and Lenor. But other specialized tools are not strikingly different. Pay attention to the smell, because wool perfectly absorbs odors, and they will not fade when dried as with cotton or synthetics.

Be sure to check the tags before washing, and even if you have the latest washing machine, but the woolen item says "hand wash only", there is no need to risk it, and besides, washing such things is not at all difficult:

• Pour water 37-40 ° C into the basin, dissolve the detergent;
• We lower the woolen thing so that it is completely in the solution;
• We leave for an hour so that all the dirt comes out into the water itself;
• Places of contamination are lightly wiped after an hour and rinsed in plenty of water;
• It is not recommended to wring out the wool, it is best to discard it on the net, and after the water drains from it, lay it out on an easily absorbed cloth until it dries completely.

Also, do not forget about the conditioner, while both specialized for woolen things and ordinary conditioners are suitable. It is worth adding that the effect of the conditioner is cumulative and after each use the thing is getting softer and softer.

Option number 2

Urgently need to wash a woolen thing, and there is no time to look for special equipment? What you have on hand at home may well come in handy, but still these are one-time solutions and next time you can make your work easier by purchasing the necessary gel and conditioner.

So let's get started:

• Pour warm water and add a teaspoon of citric acid to the basin of water, leave for 10 minutes;
• If necessary, add hot water so that the water in the basin is warm and the citric acid is completely dissolved. We put the thing and leave it for 15 minutes;
• Now drain the water and rinse in the same water;
• We lather the thing with the usual shampoo that is at home. Leave for 5-10 minutes;
• We rinse out the shampoo, apply a thin layer of hair balm on both sides, yes, just like you wash your hair. Leave it to work for 15 minutes and rinse thoroughly;
• We discard the thing on the grid and then lay it out to dry on the fabric in a horizontal position.

Option number 3

It is not separate, but rather auxiliary. Get, if you do not already have a steamer at home, or a steam cleaner, or an iron with a good steam function. In general, any technique that produces a good stream of steam. After the thing is completely dry, steam it, but remember that it is strictly forbidden to touch the wool with an iron or a hot surface.

And one more option for steaming, if the thing “didn’t give up” earlier, dilute a pinch of citric acid per liter of water and wet the cloth. Put the fabric on the woolen product and steam with this solution. After such a thing, it will certainly become soft and “obedient”.

Option number 4

The folk method used by our great-grandmothers. Pour 1.5-2 tablespoons of mustard powder into a basin of water with hot water and let it dissolve. Bring to a warm state and lower the thing. Wait a few hours and rinse.

It was believed that mustard and dirt would absorb into itself, and the smell would be removed and the wool would be softer. But we would recommend using mustard instead of conditioner, because it does not cope with the persistent smell of sweat, and we live in an age when this smell is unacceptable in everyday life, but is the most common reason for washing a woolen item.

How to make a woolen sweater, jacket, dress soft, not prickly?

Another option is well suited to clothing. To do this, you need vinegar and ordinary salt without additives. So: for 5 liters of warm water, pour 5 tablespoons of salt and completely dissolve. Add 5 tablespoons of vinegar or a solution of citric acid (a teaspoon per liter of water) and lower the item after washing in a regular powder. Leave for 2-3 hours and then rinse.

If it is not currently summer and the item is not dried in a well-ventilated area, the vinegar smell will remain in the item until the next wash.

In this case, there is another way:

• 1 liter of water;
• 1 teaspoon of glycerin.

Soak for no more than 30 minutes, rinse thoroughly.

Glycerin is sold in a pharmacy without a prescription, but if it has not been available since the time of our grandmothers' stocks, it is easier to buy special equipment.

How to wash, soften the wool so that it does not prick?

This method is ideal for washing wool blankets and blankets. Indeed, sometimes it happens that they are heard through thick home clothes. But in principle, given the composition, the tool can be tried for clothes.

So, we take:

• 5 liters of warm water;
• 3 teaspoons of soda;
• 5 drops of ammonia.

Leave it in the solution for at least an hour, or overnight. Rinse in 3-5 waters.

A downy scarf is a very delicate thing and it requires appropriate care. Depending on the color, thickness and even type of woolen yarn, it should be washed and dried in different ways. Details on the care of woolen shawls, including the famous Orenburg shawl, in our article on.

Those who studied physics well at school know that water expands at sub-zero temperatures, and contracts at positive temperatures. Thanks to this feature, many centuries ago, women discovered that it is best to wash downy and woolen items in winter, as they become softer, more delicate and do not prick at all, as if they were washed in the warm season.

So, detailed instructions on how to make any woolen or downy thing soft with frost or a freezer:

• We erase and rinse in any way written above;
• We discard it on the grid and let the water drain, but the fabric itself should remain wet;
• Put the item in a bag and send for several hours in the freezer or in the cold;
• Take out and allow to completely defrost, shake and spread on a horizontal surface to dry. Shake while drying to loosen the fabric.

Video: How to make a scratchy sweater soft: "Easy as hell!"

To begin with, let's figure out why a downy scarf can prick.
The down itself is not prickly, it is a small undercoat, very soft and very warm.
Hair prickles. The so-called awn - guard hair.

Why, then, are some scarves prickly, and some are not. This happens because of the different raw materials from which the downy thread is made.
There are two concepts - combing and shearing goats.

A labor-intensive process that is completely done by hand. With the help of special combs, the fluff is combed out of the goat. With this method, only high-quality fluff gets into the final raw material, without guard hair. This fluff is very expensive.

A haircut. When shearing down, a lot of guard hair gets into the raw material from a goat.
Shearing down is a less labor intensive process, often using special machines. The result is fluff of lower quality, because. contains not only fluff, but also hair. Its cost is much lower than the cost of fluff obtained with chesky. Due to its lower cost, it is, as they say, more popular with knitters. Women often prefer to choose the guard hair by hand, rather than overpay for fluff with chesky. This is a huge, without exaggeration, titanic work. Unfortunately, it happens that it is not possible to select the entire awn and part of it wanders from the fluff into the finished product.

Conclusion- it is the outer hair that is pricked in scarves.

But, if you come across a scarf that pricks, you don’t need to be upset.
Firstly, the outer hair is heavier than down and crumbles very quickly when wearing a scarf. Yes, for some time you will have to endure the causticity and the fact that he will remain on the clothes, but this process will be completed quickly enough.
Secondly, it is possible to artificially provoke the loss of the outer hair from the scarf. To do this, the downy product must be left in the cold, secured on an ordinary clothesline. In this case, the snow will favorably affect the loss of the outer hair. But do not forget to carefully clean the scarf from it when you bring the product into heat.
There is also a radical method that we do not recommend, but are forced to recognize its effectiveness. The scarf can be dry-cleaned, and the entire awn will come out of it, and the product itself will acquire an excellent pile of fluff, it will instantly become beautiful and very warm.
But, at the same time, the structure of the downy thread will be disturbed and such a scarf will last much less than the one that was subjected to natural wear and gradually fluffed, losing excess outer hair.
So, the presence of an awn is not very good, but as in any natural and environmentally friendly product, there may be subtleties and features that often cannot be 100% avoided. And if you are still unlucky, and the scarf is prickly, you do not need to be afraid of this. The awn quickly leaves the product with normal wear.

Imagine that you bought a new Orenburg downy shawl, and it treacherously pricks. And instead of a pleasant feeling of dry warmth and comfort, it brutally "bites" you. What to do? Here are some tips to help you solve this problem.

The prickliness of the new scarf is a direct confirmation that the scarf is made from absolutely natural raw materials - the down of the Orenburg goat. It is obtained in the process of separation from coarser wool fibers. Before becoming suitable for spinning and subsequent knitting, fluff undergoes serious preparation. It is carefully sorted out, scratched, washed. Rigid guard hairs (they are prickly) fall into the down during its "extraction" from a goat. Large long guard hairs are removed quite easily, but short and thin ones remain and fall into the finished downy product.

What needs to be done so that a new thing delivers a minimum of discomfort? First, wear it as often as possible - both outdoors and at home. The guard hairs fall out quickly with constant wear, as they do not have good adhesion to the down. Secondly, if there is no strength to endure pricklyness, then it makes sense to wear clothes made of dense fabrics. And wear a scarf over it. Thirdly, to speed up the process of removing outer hair as much as possible will help to dry-squeeze a downy product in a washing machine. It is important that water does not get on the downy scarf. You may have to repeat the process several times. This method must be used with great care. Fourthly, all year round in good weather, when it is dry and the wind is blowing outside, it is recommended to hang Orenburg downy products outside. The scarves will "breathe", the fluff will rise, they will become more tender, fluffy and soft.

What to do if the scarf is prickly? Why is the scarf prickly? If your new downy scarf pricks - it doesn't matter! This fact only directly indicates the absolutely natural origin of the scarf from a live goat, and the painstaking manual work of knitters. The sharpness of a new handkerchief from a needle is a natural phenomenon that is eliminated naturally - one has only to start using it. What is goat down and why down can be pricked. Goat down is a special category of woolen raw materials. It is thinner than merino wool - the finest wool, and products made from it are light, soft and beautiful. Down is obtained by separating coarse goat hair from fibers. In the process of preparing the down for knitting, it is combed out, sheared, sorted out, washed, finally combed, after which it is ready for spinning. It is during the collection of down from a goat that hard woolen hair - called an awn, gets into its texture, in the process of processing the outer hair is manually selected from the down, this is a complex scrupulous job of sorting and cleaning the down. Large and long hairs are removed quite easily, while short and thinner ones can remain in the fluff, thereby getting into the finished product - this in some cases causes a tingling sensation when wearing downy products, in particular a scarf. What to do to make the scarf soft and stopped pricking? To make the scarf softer quickly - you need to wear it more often - the entire guard hair will fall out over time, due to its heaviness and lack of good adhesion to downy yarn, since it has a dense rigid structure that does not correspond to downy thread. When used, the scarf will fluff up, become softer and softer. The awn will completely go away in the process of wearing or intense mechanical impact on the scarf. This will take time. To speed up this process, our honorary knitters will give you some important tips.1. Wear a scarf or any other item as often as possible.2. Wear the product not only on the street, put on a scarf at home - this will not only speed up the process of loss of outer hair, but also receive a portion of healing living heat.3. If you can't stand being taunted, wear thick clothing that will help you avoid these sensations.4. Caution use with caution! Tip for the impatient: to get rid of the awn faster, you can use the dry spin function on an automatic washing machine. WARNING: THERE MUST BE NO WATER IN THE DRUM. It is possible to scroll, it will take several times, the prickly hairs will fall out of the thread structure. 5. At any time of the year, on a nice fine sunny day, when it is dry and windy, hang your product outside - for airing, this will renew it and make it fresh and soft. The fluff will rise, making the scarf even fluffier and softer.

"What can I take from you? You can't even knit a scarf!" - such words could be heard by a city girl in local villages 40 years ago. Knitting a scarf is a matter of course, something that village girls should have been able to do from a very early age.

Maria Stepanovna started knitting in the fifth grade. For almost 70 years she has been knitting downy shawls, and at 80 she continues the best Orenburg traditions. She lives in Orenburg in a small old house. There are many such houses in the city: small one-story buildings, windows with shutters, wooden gates, sometimes painted green and sometimes blue, a small courtyard. It seems that even the smell in the yards is the same - the smell of childhood. After the sale, such houses are usually demolished, and expensive brick monuments appear in their place - offices or houses of wealthy people. But so far the houses are still standing - whole streets, quarters, arrays, even in the very center.

Maria Stepanovna lives in such a house. Her downy products are invariably in demand among neighbors and acquaintances who know firsthand about the quality of scarves knitted by her. To knit a product that could bring joy to its owner for a long time, a lot of time is spent. Baba Masha takes 2 weeks to make a cobweb 140x140 cm, and a whole month to make a solid scarf 145x145 cm. Although Maria Stepanovna does not knit all the time, but between times. I can’t knit constantly - my back starts to hurt. Nothing can be done about it: the work is hard enough even for young girls.

"Does the cobweb pass through the ring?" Maria Stepanovna shakes her head. In order for the gossamer to pass into the ring, it should not be so large (about 120x120cm) and thinner. Maria Stepanovna does not knit like that, preferring practicality, because the thinner the product, the less it retains heat. Surprisingly, despite this approach, Maria Stepanovna's downy gossamer weighs only 113 grams! Baba Masha's cobwebs are of 2 types, depending on the border pattern.

One of the misconceptions about Orenburg shawls is that they are 100% down. Neither the best needlewomen nor factory masters knit like this. Silk, viscose and cotton threads provide the basis, and down - warmth and elegance. Maria Stepanovna takes about 100 grams of angora goat down and one bobbin of silk thread for one cobweb. The scarf takes 300 grams of down and a large bobbin of cotton thread.

Baba Masha pays great attention to quality. Her spinning wheels are idle - Maria Stepanovna spins the fluff by hand with a spindle and only then connects it with a silk thread. Not all down knitters do this: sometimes the down is immediately combined with a silk or cotton thread, which makes the downy scarf less durable, because the down can no longer hold on as well.

One of the myths about downy shawls says that they should be initially fluffy and very soft. It is these scarves that are sold in large quantities at the Orenburg railway station and at the Central Market. It is pleasant to touch them, and nonresident guests are happy to buy them, thinking that here it is - the desired legendary Orenburg downy shawl. After all the fluff comes out, disappointment and doubt come: are the legends about the Orenburg downy scarf really just a myth?

Maria Stepanovna, like many true craftswomen, does not like this practice. To give the product fluffiness, the scarf is thoroughly combed with a comb - the fluff begins to hang down, and after some time after the start of use, it can even crawl out. A real new down scarf doesn't have to be fluffy. Maria Stepanovna has new products - soft to the touch, but by no means fluffy. Quality products become truly soft and fluffy only during use, and every month they amaze their owners more and more. Like a bud, which is becoming more beautiful, gradually blooming.

Mankind has always sought to reduce the long painstaking work - why not use a knitting machine? Maria Stepanovna follows a more laborious path. Products connected on a typewriter have a "front" and a wrong side. Completely manual work has no such flaws.

In products made at the Factory, Baba Masha finds her advantages: firstly, the ability to apply any pattern allows you to reproduce quite complex and original patterns, and secondly, the stoles and cobwebs at the Factory turn out to be quite thin, however, Maria Stepanovna still prefers subtleties practicality.

Maria Stepanovna herself wears a gossamer donated by her friend. Baba Masha smiles: "I knit myself, but I don't wear mine." Among down knitters, it is customary to respect the quality of someone else's work, even if your own is better. Baba Masha used to go to the market to sell her products, but now the products are sold to friends and relatives. In addition, her products can now be purchased far beyond the Orenburg region: Maria Stepanovna became the first down knitter, whose scarves were presented in the Orenburg online store Palantin.ru

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On the topic of needlework:

Felt boots from Sisu, embroidered with colorful patterns (photo taken from Sisu's comment in the Sisu salon "Arbor" on page 24 of comments on September 13, 2017)