How to make no-rinse wool wash

Clean your handknits with a homemade no-rinse wool wash that uses just a few simple ingredients. It’s a great budget alternative to shop-bought washes. This recipe was passed on to The Knitter by reader Samantha Lane.

“You might be interested to know that Eucalan says their product was inspired by a no-rinse, home-made product the founder encountered in Australia,” says Samantha.

“For decades Martha Gardener, on ABC radio, would read out the recipe for a no-rinse wool mix at least once a week. There was no internet back then and so people would ring in, again and again, to have the recipe read out. The recipe also appears in the Presbyterian Women’s Missionary Union Cookbook, and, in the days when women knitted to clothe their families, it was an important part of the domestic culture. The jumpers my mother washed with this wool wash were beautifully maintained.

“Nowadays you can buy a commercial no-rinse detergent bearing Martha Gardener’s name but you can still find the recipe in many places online,” she says. “Here it is:

No-rinse wool wash

You will need:

• 4 cups of pure soap flakes
• 1 cup of methylated spirits
• 50ml of eucalyptus oil

Step 1

Mix the methylated spirits with the soap flakes.

Step 2

Add the eucalyptus oil and stir.

Step 3

Store the wool wash in a wide necked jar.

To clean your knits using this wool wash, use one tablespoon of mixture per garment. Dissolve in a small quantity of hot water and then pour into a basin of lukewarm wash water. Soak garment.

No need to rinse. Squeeze and roll in towel to remove excess water. Dry out of direct sunlight.”

Helen Spedding

As Operations Editor of The Knitter, Helen makes sure that everyone works together to produce the best magazine they can – and that they hit their deadlines! As well as keeping the magazine running smoothly day-to-day, she sources all the latest stories for the news section, writes features, interviews top designers, and checks every word that makes it into print. When she gets a spare minute, Helen enjoys reading knitting books and blogs, and working on her own projects. Her first love is lace, but she’s also on a mission to improve her stranded colourwork so she can cast on more Fair Isle projects from her favourite designers, Kate Davies and Mary Henderson.

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