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You’re sitting in your favorite chair, ready to knit or crochet on your project. Now, if you’re like me, you usually have some type of beverage to consume while you work on your project.

Suddenly, a bump of the hand or family pet swings their tail and you have your beverage sloshed/spilled all over your skeins of yarn that have yet to be worked into your project. One time, I had this exact thing happen with a glass of orange juice. My knitting was inside a small basket next to my chair, the dog wagged her tail and knocked the orange juice over on top of the basket lid. The orange juice drained through the open weave of the lid of my basket, drenching six skeins of yarn inside the basket along with the project that was still on the needles. I didn’t even have my knitting out of the basket and it was a mess.

So, I rinsed the knitted part of the project out and laid it on a towel to air dry. However, the skeins were soaked with the spilled orange juice. Somehow, I had to wash the skeins of yarn before I could incorporate them into my knitting project.

Fabric sections are easier to launder because they are more of a flat surface. Much like the knitted part of my project, it can be rinsed out and left to dry. However, with the skeins of yarn, the orange juice permeated all the layers of the yarn wound into the skein.

Or maybe you have been given yarn that has some residue odor (e.g., a smoky or perfumed smell), or the yarn may be slightly soiled). You will need to clean the yarn before you can use it for your next craft project.

You can wash skeins and/or balls of yarn. If the yarn is a large ball of yarn, I would suggest wrapping it into a hank before washing.

First look at the yarn label to get laundering instruction information. In my example, the yarn was an acrylic so I knew I could machine wash and dry the yarn. Some yarns may need to be hand washed in a sink. You can use a gentle liquid dish detergent, shampoo or wool washing soap to clean the yarn.

For hand washing: Remove the yarn label from the skein and set aside. Fill the sink with cool or lukewarm water. Add small amount of soap, then add your yarn to the water. Let it soak for about an hour. Drain the water and rinse the yarn out until all soap is removed from the skein or ball of yarn. Roll the yarn in a dry towel to remove excess moisture. Let the skein completely dry before using.

For yarns that can be laundered in a washer: Remove the yarn labels and set aside. Take the skeins/balls of yarn and tuck the skeins into a set of pantyhose or knee-high (tying a knot in the top of the knee-highs). The pantyhose will keep the yarn from coming apart and turning into a knotted mess. Toss the pantyhose/knee-high into the gentle wash cycle and launder according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Air dry or toss on low temperature into the dryer (still encased in the pantyhose).

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