Detergent for merino and other fabrics.

“For Cashmere Only” sold on eBay by kjmcfarland

Any of the non scented, non detergent based soaps should work well.  Like Penguin brand, Nikwax, Atsko, etc

Or, potentially cheaper, buy some solid castile type bar soaps (like Kiss My Face Olive Oil bar soap, Kirks Original, etc), and dissolve them in very hot water.

Generally you need less soap than what it seems a lot of people use (judging by the many tenants/housemates we have had).

I use regular laundry detergent for everything except my down stuff. I didn’t know we were supposed to use something different. Haven’t had any problems in over 50 years.

I switched from Woolite to Sport Wash for all of my backpacking gear, minus down pieces. I have been happier with the Sport Wash ever since. Clothes feel better.

http://www.rei.com/product/765651/nathan-sport-wash-laundry-detergent-20-fl-oz?cm_mmc=cse_PLA_GOOG-_-7656510018&CAWELAID=120217890000767184&lsft=cm_mmc:cse_PLA_GOOG

I do the same as Nick. 40+ years of camping out and no problems. Merino wool seems to hold upl. While it can dry out merino wool after 6-7 years, most stuff should be OK. (Often after 6 years stuff is fairly worn/thinned out, anyway.)

Yes, most people are trained by the portions listed on the boxes/bottles. Generally, this is at least twice sometimes five times what is actually needed. Vegetable oils/Industrial oils may be the worst case and require the full measure. This is what they advertise I believe…enough to wash cloths that have heavy grease stains.

WATER washes cloths, gear. The soaps/detergents only help emulsify oils and oil-like substances. Body oils are not bad, usually agitated water will clean them out. Generally 1/5-1/3 the amount of soap/detergent for everyday clothing works as well as the full measure. Bleach should never be used on anything except cotton, and then well diluted.

For merino wool (socks, base layers) about 2-3 drops of plain, unscented dish detergent (Ivory or Dawn) per piece works. Proportions about work out…socks are usually more soiled than shirts for example. Packs, tarps and other gear I just rinse with water. Mostly agitated water cleans woodsy stuff. Note some pitch and gum needs to be heavily treated with a detergent before washing.

The downside is that any nicks, cuts or scrapes will be made worse by washing. Washing will add at least a weeks wear on cloths and gear.

I tend to just use whatever fabric sport wash Walmart has available in the camping or hunting section. It used to be Atsko brand, but now it’s something else. I use it for all of my gear, including my cheap winter down jacket. I probably would not use it on a down sleeping bag, but I have not yet seen a need to wash any of those.

I just use the Kirkland Signature Free & Clear liquid laundry detergent on all my gear.

We just upgraded to a new HE washer with a gazillion setting options.
Will be interesting to see how my gear turns out with the new washer compared to the 20 year old beast it replaced.

I don’t do anything fancy for wool (except for line drying), but I do make sure to wash all of my down gear and DWR fabrics in tech wash. I use Atsko Tech Wash, but there are lots of options and as far as I can tell they’re about the same.

If you wash DWR fabrics with detergent, the surfactants will bond to the surface and ruin the water repellence.

Merino and other protein based fibers are fairly sensitive to alkalinity–this is why i recommend gentle, soap based cleansers for it because these are usually pretty close to neutral ph.  Detergents sometimes have strongly base/alkaline substances as these help to emulsify oils/fats and/or reduce surface tension of water. While the overall ph of most detergents is probably in the safe range for Merino and other protein based fibers, why risk it–besides, if done right, converting bar soap to liquid soap can be much more economical than buying either detergent based laundry wash or the liquid soap stuff made specifically for active/outdoors etc wear.

Woolen clothing fibers tend to dry out no matter what you use, as mentioned the aging process is accelerated by ph levels. It’s just a matter of how long you want it to last and how hard you use it. Prices keep raising on quality items so I don’t want to replace anything more often than I must. If your water has chlorine and fluorides added that will need to be considered. I live in a very very dry area with alkaline soil and water and have no water softening treatments so I like the soap I mentioned above for my cashmere and woolens AND once in a while I will treat my heavily used items like socks to a lanolin soak and this seems to make them last a longer time. I’m a Mom and also have no dishwasher machine, I AM the dishwasher and I can see how dishwashing soap affects my hands (badly) so I would not even consider washing my expensive wool items in dishwashing soap. But to each his own, :-).

Yeah that was kind of my thought – quality merino wool clothing items are pretty expensive and the ones I bought are also relatively thin/delicate feeling. I want to take optimal care of them so I don’t have to spend money replacing them faster. It may be overkill, but I’m thinking I’ll use a small amount of Nikwax Wool Wash and be careful to wash them only when they actually need it. Maybe down the road I’ll purchase some liquid lanolin to soak them in on a rare occasion, but I don’t really expect to wear and wash them too frequently, so maybe unnecessary. The Wool Wash seems to be unscented, so that’s also nice. Thanks again everyone!