Questions to which the search function revealed no answers

Ah, just remembered.

Recently bought some cheap wool/nylon blend gloves as liners. They are 70% unspecified wool and 30% nylon. Knew they would be kind of scratchy, but wasn't prepared for the full extent.

I immediately thought of using some hair conditioner to soften them up, but i suspect that this might screw with the moisture managing properties some. Would such conditioner make it hold/attract water even more?

Yay or nay on hair conditioner to slightly soften up some really scratchy mostly wool gloves?

Wow, I actually might know the answer to your second question.

Wool is a protein filament, which is a waste product from the follicle. The purpose of shampoo is to get rid of dirt and sanitize a fiber, but it'll also wipe away good oils, which you don't want.

Conditioner, however, replenishes natural oils and fills in the gaps in the protein filament, strengthening and softening the wool. Conditioner should be just fine and won't impede the qualities of the wool; it'll actually enhance it.

Good luck!

You don't want to strip away the lanolin. Don't know if you could add more and if that would help. Conditioner is a coating. Many types

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hair_conditioner

Hi Justin

Nikwax is a wax DWR. Silicone probably means fluorosilicone?

The two are TOTALLY incompatible! They wreck each other.

Cheers

You can add lanolin back to wool, there are products you can buy for that.

I had a super itchy (it tormented my skin) wool flannel shirt that I used hair conditioner on. It didn't seem to help at all.

Maybe there's significant differences between sheared wool and "live" hair. I'm no expert.

Well, it may have helped a little but the wool was so brutal on my skin that I didn't notice.
Maybe with slightly itchy wool it would work.

Thank you for the replies everyone. Left a little more puzzled than i began though..

I will at least avoid soaking the jacket in the nikwax.

I use "For Cashmere Only" soap on all my cashmere and wool stuff, it is found on ebay. Softens everything very nicely and does not strip the hairs of their natural oils. The seller is kjmcfarland.

Thank you for the tip D.D., will definitely check that soap out.