I spin almost every day. Partly because I love to spin. And partly because I can easily combine spinning with TV watching time with my husband. This results in piles of spun yarn that needs to be washed and set. When you spin yarn, there is often excess twist in the yarn. Washing helps that twist settle out. Washing also helps remove any excess dye present in the fibre. For some fibers, when you wash them they bloom quite a bit and the final yarn can be shorter and plumper than it was before washing. The following photos show the same yarn I before and after washing. These yarns are from my previous batch of spinning/washing.
It had been about 3 weeks since I last washed any yarn and my bag of unwashed skeins was getting full. I took them upstairs to our spare bathroom for washing. This bathroom has 2 sinks which makes washing skeins faster.
I dug out my equipment. Some leave in wool wash. And my counter top spin dryer. I bought this spin dryer in 2013 from The Laundry Alternative and it is one of my favourite tools. I am going to be very sad when the motor dies and it bites the dust. But so far it is still working fine. The wool wash is from a local company and it is a great product. Gentle on the wool and it has a light scent that is appealing.
After getting setup I started washing skeins. I fill the sink with slightly warm water and add a glug of the wool wash. Then I push the yarn into the water to ensure it gets fully wet. I leave it to soak for 15-20 minutes.
After washing I drain out the water and put the skeins in the spin dryer. I have a video from a few years ago showing the spin dryer in action.
Sometimes when I wash skeins you can see the dye coming off the yarn. If the water is really stained with dye I will sometimes do another rinse. It is best to remove any excess dye before putting the yarn into a project. This avoids unpleasant surprises later.
After spinning out the water, I take each skein out of the spin dryer and snap them a few times. This involves opening up the skein and putting my wrists inside the loop. Next I quickly move my hands outward to snap the yarn tightly. I will then rotate the skein and repeat this a few times. Finally I take the skein and drape it over the neck of a hanger to dry. After a day or two I come back and rotate the skein on the hanger so that a dry area is against the neck of the hanger. This helps the other area (previously on the neck of the hanger) to get more airflow and dry thoroughly.
Here are my 8 skeins of yarn washed and drying. All these skeins were wound on the same skein winder. The variation in length shows how some yarns shrink/bloom when washed. The two shortest skeins are also the bulkiest yarns, spun as coreless corespun and then plied with thread. Both of these bulky yarns were spun from Mystery Batts I received in my World of Wool Botany Lap Waste bag. The coloured skeins are all Superwash Merino. And the one cream skein is a Mohair (70%)/ Wool (20%) / Silk (10%) blend.