Woolen products in general, and alpaca woolen products specifically, require special care when it comes to washing. Alpaca woolen products only need to be washed sparingly because of their special fiber that doesn’t absorb any smells or stains.
Here are the simple steps you need:
- Let the garment soak in cold or lukewarm water;
- Use a mild detergent, or baby shampoo or conditioner;
- Rinse under running cold or lukewarm water;
- Lay it drying flat between two towels, in its original shape;
- Be careful NOT to wring, rub or twist;
- Do NOT hang dry; dry flat between towels;
- Wash sparingly.
Did you know that you don’t really need to wash alpaca woolen products to start with? Also, are you aware that you should never put alpaca wool in the washing machine?
Keep reading to find out more, plus my insider’s tips.
How To Wash An Alpaca Woolen Product
When washing an alpaca woolen item, I like to think of it as if it were a real alpaca. Anything made of 100% alpaca wool should convince you that you should never, ever throw it in a washing machine. And with never, I mean never. Not even the “hand wash program”. Just don’t.
When you decide to wash an alpaca woolen product, be prepared to treat it with all the tender, love and care that you would use with a real alpaca.
So here’s my first tip: when in doubt on how to wash alpaca woolen items, think of it as a real alpaca. That should help you use your common sense when it comes to the washing instructions. You wouldn’t throw an actual alpaca in a washing machine, either, right?! Just saying.
When you want to wash an alpaca woolen product, be ready for a little adventure. It’s not a difficult task, but there are some critical steps involved.
More of a visual learner? I also made a YouTube video in which I show you how to wash my alpaca wool hat.
Step 1: Let the Alpaca Woolen Garment Soak in Cold or Lukewarm Water
To wash an alpaca woolen item, all you need to do for the first step is to let it soak in cold or lukewarm water. Add a dash of a very gentle detergent, baby shampoo or conditioner. Let it soak for about 30 minutes to up to one hour. Don’t rub it, brush it, or agitate it in any way!
Use the Right Temperature Water
It is important to use only cold or lukewarm water. The alpaca fiber is too fragile for hot water, and any water hotter than lukewarm damages the wool. Stick to cold water or lukewarm water only and your alpaca piece will be safe.
- Pro-Tip: A nice little trick is to try the water with the inside of your wrist: the veins are closer to the surface there, so you will get a more accurate idea of how hot the water really is.
Keep the temperature of the water the same throughout the process. Your options:
- Soak with cold water, rinse with cold water.
- Soak with lukewarm water, rinse with lukewarm water.
Switching temperatures can “shock” the fiber which may cause it to start felting. Felting means that the fibers are pressed together and become a more dense and compact fabric. You don’t want that to happen!
Detergents Matter
Use some mild detergent to wash your garment. Be careful even with special wool wash detergents. Because 1) they will try to convince you that you can use the washing machine—which you can’t! And 2) they could still be too harsh (chemical) sometimes!
My recommendations:
- Conditioner
- Baby shampoo
- Natural detergent
- Castile soap
- Natural vinegar solution (store-bought or DIY)
Whatever you use, don’t overuse it and make sure it is dissolved in the water before you put the garment in.
Bath Time
Once the garment goes into the water, let nature do the rest. Just let it soak. Do not try to brush away any stains, do not rub the fabric to get the detergent in. Just let it soak. Let it soak, let it soak, oh, let it soak… Let the garment soak for 30-60 minutes. Not longer!
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The What-If-This-Was-A-Real-Alpaca Test: Do you think alpacas like hot water? Nope. Stingy detergent? Nope. Rubbing their fleece? Nope.
Step 2: Take The Garment Out of The Water And Rinse It With Cold or Lukewarm Running Water
Ready to get your hands dirty? I mean cleaned? This is my favorite part, it’s as if you're taking a shower with an alpaca (but not really, but then someone’s got to get you excited for this part, right?).
Now that the soaking phase is over, the alpaca needs to be cleansed of the cleaning stuff. The best, and only, way to do this is by rinsing it under cold or lukewarm running water. Get in the shower with your big, fluffy alpaca sweater, or place it in a sink if you have a smaller piece like a scarf, and let the water run. (Mindfully!)
During this stage it is extremely tempting to wring and twist your alpaca garment. Please do not do this! Alpaca fabric is very delicate and it does not like to be twisted or wringed.
What you can do is gently (GENTLY!) squeeze the water out. Especially towards the end, a squeeze or two will make sure that excess water gets out of the fiber. It might still be dripping a bit, but you can get rid this way of most of the water.
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Pro-tip: You also want to be careful when carrying the alpaca item to make sure its weight is sustained. The weight of the water (that is now absorbed by the alpaca wool) can bring an alpaca woolen piece out of shape. Maintain the garment in its original shape as much as possible, to keep it pretty.
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The What-If-This-Was-A-Real-Alpaca Test: Alpacas do not like to be rubbed or twisted. They just like running water to get rid of the detergent. Gently, oh-so-gently!
Step 3: Place The Garment Between Two Towels and Air-Dry on a Flat Surface
After you have gently squeezed out excess water, it is time for drying. To dry an alpaca wool garment you let the water absorb by towels. The alpaca fiber absorbs quite a big amount of water, so you want to make sure that you have enough towels within reach.
Removing Excess Water
Resist any temptation you have to twist or wring your alpaca woolen piece to make this step go faster. Patience is your virtue here!
First, place your garment on top of a towel in its original form. Then, put a second towel on top of it and roll it up to gently squeeze out the water. You will need to repeat this step if your garment is big and has soaked up a lot of water.
While doing this, make sure NOT to stretch your piece or reshape it.
Then, place your alpaca woolen item flat again on top of a towel (a dry one if necessary), with a second towel on top. Make sure the surface is flat, like a table. Needless to say that you don’t want to put it on your bed, right? Spoiler alert… It WILL get wet!
Air-drying
Once (most) of the water is absorbed, let your garment air dry and make sure that it remains flat. As long as there is water in the fibers, the weight will deform your piece as soon as it is being hung out. Even a little bit!
It is also important to make sure that you don’t hang your garment too close to a heater or other heat source, or directly in the sun. Air dry, away from direct sunlight or heat. Speeding up the process with hairdryers, drying machines or tumble dryers, and other tools is also not allowed, as they damage the fiber.
Keep in mind that this may take a while, so plan your washing session accordingly if you’re planning on wearing the item for a special occasion.
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Planning Tip: Depending on how big your alpaca woolen piece is, drying might take anywhere between three to 24 hours (imagine a hat with thin wool compared to a super chunky and fluffy sweater).
- The What-If-This-Was-A-Real-Alpaca Test: Ever seen an alpaca with a hairdryer? Next to a heater? Nope. Just simple air drying and a healthy dose of patience are all it takes to dry.
You Actually Don’t Need To Wash Alpaca Wool Often
People often get a bit scared when I explain them the steps of washing the garment. But here's the good news:
Alpaca wool doesn’t absorb smells or stains easily. Yup. You don’t really need to wash your garment all that often.
Alpaca wool has a hollow fiber with little airbags inside. This makes alpaca wool highly thermal because it actually “traps” the heat in its little bags. This brilliant alpaca technology also means that alpaca wool doesn't absorb any smells. The smells just don’t get into the wool. It’s great!
The same goes for stains: the thermal fiber does not allow water or liquid to be absorbed easily. Until the amount is so big that it eventually will, but until then... No stains!
Obviously, if you pour an entire bottle of red wine on a white piece, it might leave a stain, because it will be absorbed by the fiber. But if you're quick, you might be able to save your piece from being ruined.
Although... I did some experimenting with a WHITE piece of alpaca wool and RED WINE, KETCHUP and BLUEBERRIES. You can see the results on YouTube.
On top of that, the alpaca fiber has a scale like texture on the outside of its fiber, with a glossy texture that will make sure liquids are quickly repelled before they get absorbed.
What To Do In Case Of Stains?
Imagine the most terrible of terrible things that can happen to an alpaca piece: squashed blackberries, turmeric curry, tomato sauce… I’m sure you can all imagine the worst possible scenarios potentially ruining a beautiful piece of clothing. And the problem is… You can’t rub an alpaca piece to rub off a stain, so what DO you do?
You wick it off as quickly as possible.
Then, you get the water running, quickly and gently. Don't jam the tap open, the pressure could ruin the shape of your garment. Just let the water run through and it will rinse out the stain.
Whatever your instincts tell you, don’t rub, twist, or wring the piece. Just let running water do the trick. Again, eventually the alpaca fiber will absorb liquid, but running water will dilute the stain before it gets truly absorbed. It's your best bet to prevent a real stain.
Wicking Capabilities
The alpaca fiber is known for its very high wicking capabilities. Didn’t know that was a thing, right? It basically means that alpaca wool can get rid of the water before it penetrates the fleece. Alpaca wool is more likely to stay dry when it gets wet, or… not stain when you spill red wine on it.
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The What-If-This-Was-A-Real-Alpaca Test: Can you imagine the heavy showers that will occur during the rainy season in the Andean highlands? They’re pretty wet. Now, imagine an alpaca after such a shower… What will it do? Shake it off, off, off. Shake it off! I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake.
Any tricky stains are best left to a professional dry-cleaning service. They will have the appropriate method and equipment to handle an alpaca woolen stain with the care it needs. Make sure you do your research to find a reliable service, though.
Bigger, delicate, or special-to-you pieces are also best left to a dry-cleaning service. Better safe, than sorry :)
What Is the Best Way to Take Care of Alpaca Wool if You Don’t Need to Wash It?
Great question! The answer is really easy: alpaca wool is really low maintenance. If you feel like your favorite alpaca woolen sweater can use a bit of airing, you could actually hang it in the bathroom while you’re taking a shower. Or you could hang it on a coat hanger outside on a misty day (REALLY!).
Here’s how that works:
- Vapor or steam relax the fiber. It opens them up, which helps to release wrinkles, smells, or even light dirt.
- Refreshen it up. While steam doesn’t clean as thoroughly as washing would, it does remove odors and refreshens the garment.
- Gentle on the garment. The best part is that the steam is soft and gentle on the fiber, which means it doesn’t get damaged, making your piece look nicer, longer. Yay!
- Safe from damage. By steaming the garment instead of washing it, you reduce the risk of it starting to pill or felt, losing its shape, or losing its softness.
Why Can't You Wash Alpaca Wool in the Washing Machine?
There are several reasons why you don't want to wash an alpaca wool piece in the washing machine.
- Friction Causes Felting: The washing machine tosses the garment around and that causes friction. Friction means the fibers rub together and that causes them to get entangled. And when the fibers are all tangled up, it becomes felted: stiff and matted. Yes, like a doormat.
- Heat Causes Damage: The delicate alpaca fiber does not like heat. It also damages the fiber and causes the garment to lose it's shape, softness, or size.
- Stretching and Distortion: The tumbling action of the machine can also distort the shape of alpaca wool, stretching it out unevenly.
- Increased Risk of Pilling: The movement and agitation in the machines cause the fibers to break on top of entangling. When the fibers break they become shorter and this causes them to pill. And nobody wants fuzzballs!
