Shrinking Wool

ive custom shrank all my xl's down to perfect size. just get it wet and dry it on normal heat and check every 10 minutes. dont leave it in to long and dont let it get too hot and you will be able to control the shrinkage. i have done this with patagonia and smartwool products. good luck!

Using soap and hot water will shrink wool that has not been treated to be washable. Just be careful that the "corners" of your garments will shrink more than the rest. By corners I mean armpits, crotches and the like. Keep an eye on it every few minutes to avoid over shrinking.
It is possible that bring "undies" they were treated do that they could be washed, in which case it would not work. Good luck.

I'm kinda confused now. What's best, washing in how water or just getting them wet and tumble dry on hot? I am totally inept when it comes to fabric care.

I've wondered if there was a way I could shrink wool myself- I've seen wool sweaters shrunk from a women's medium to a toddler's 4T.

A lot of merino stuff seems to have been treated to withstand machine washing, or at least preshrunk. My wife has accidentally washed and machine dried a few of my merino tops by RedRam (IceBreaker) and Stoic. They didn't really shrink, but they did reset to their original size, getting rid of the baggyness that seems to develop with wool after many wears. Our dryer only does high heat, so I can safely say that she didn't do the load on air dry or low heat. I always machine wash and dry my wool socks, and I've never had any shrinkage. I usually hand wash and line dry my merino tops to avoid pilling, more than anything else.

I may have to look at your for sale post- I have a 40/42 sized waist. Depends on what you're selling, I suppose. :)

Moisture, heat, and agitation is what shrinks wool. Untreated wool fibers little tiny rough scales and to felt you have to have those fibers rub against each other and hook onto each other, leading to a matted mess of fibers. Essentially shrinking wool is like when your dog or cat gets fur mats between their legs.

I would expect most wool underwear is made from treated, or superwash, merino. That won't shrink (much) because the fibers don't have those rough scales. They're smooth. (That being said, there are degrees. Some woolens aren't well treated and they will shrink anyway.)

If the washing instructions allow for ANY machine washing, it's made from superwash wool. Non-superwash wool would shrink (felt) if it even looked sideways at a washing machine. Just like that nice expensive wool sweater we got for Christmas and wore only once…until it's washed.

You also need soap to aid the shrinking process. Not woolite.

ive shrunk patagonia wool baselayers by just getting them wet and then drying them on normal heat. i check every 10 min so that they do not shrink too much. im sure using other stuff will work and might even shrink em faster imho.

Aaron,
Check them out. They are priced to sell. I see people paying $25 for merino tops with holes in them on gear swap. There are new without tags. I'd prefer they found a home rather than me experiment on them. As is they don't work for me.

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