I have a few old merino base layers, which have served me well for a few years, and been through the wash at too many times to count. They're much less warm once I get them wet than they used to be, less so than a new merino base layer by the same people, and the one that's the most far gone is my favorite color, so the one I've worn (and washed) most often. All of them are still better than cotton, but they've lost their magic, and they're no good for getting sweaty on a cold day and then being outside for a while to come.

Are the fibers collapsing, is the lanolin is gone from the wash, or is something else going on? Can I bring these back to life, or should I donate them to the cat?

there is some fiber loss , feeding the carpet moth larvae..
and maybe the dryer filter screen..

I haven't noticed this at all, even with my really old (20+ years) wool jerseys. I never put wool in the dryer though . . . hopefully you don't either.

I would guess wool clothing would have a useful life somewhat equal to the life of the average sheep; whatever that is?

Rick / OCRR

There is many ways to "kill" wool. Using the wrong soap when washing is one.

Eucalan wool wash works great.

They've never been through the drier, and only on the gentle cycle with cold water and a light soap like woolite. I've had the glacier blue one about four years, and might have worn it ~200 times, though. So, if it's time to retire the thing, I definitely got my money out of it. If I can revive it, though, I like the shirt a lot and would like to keep using it. But, yeah, a lot of gentle wash cycles still added up, I think.

I think you can be pretty sure that by now you have washed out any trace of lanolin. Try adding some, and see if it helps.

Like fietsbob said, fiberloss. Is it 100% wool? If not maybe woolfibers are gone and synthet fibers are still there. Did you try to search the net? Wikipedia or similar?

*total newb here* --> glad for the advice to not put my wool in the dryer and to use a soap suited for it. My wool tights and sweater I've unfortunately been putting in the dryer, and I don't know how the Arm & Hammer laundry detergent is for it, but now suspect not the best...

You can buy lanolin and possibly fix them.

Woolite is going to strip lanolin away. Give it a shot with Eucalan. Typically it's either Eucalan or sportwash for me on wools... Detergents will eat away lanolin in no time.

So ... I asked Google about lanolin and wool ... and got ten results about baby diapers. The next page was more of the same. Is it something you can get in a store locally?

Go to Walmart and look in the baby section for Lansinoh. It is used for breastfeeding, but they offer a 100% lanolin option.

If you want some nice smelling lanolin go to www.hyenacart.com and search for lanolin. You'll be supporting a small seller that works from home and produces it themselves.

Follow the lanolizing instuctions for longies and you'll do fine. It's how I wash my husbands wool jerseys and our diapers
https://www.diaperpin.com/clothdiaper...nolizewool.asp

To say "wool" is like saying "a bike". What sort of bike? I wrote a few things about wool in the "winter riding forum" a week or two ago but not much. It is different depending on what animal it came from.

Also sheep, there is a lot of different qualitys. Next is how it is treated. "Superwash wool" is treated so that it can be washed in the washingmachine without felting BUT it got a hash treatment to "kill" a lot of its natural characteristics. It looks and feel more "dead" and is often more "sagging" when wet than natureal wool, around here that is called "100% pure wool".

Of course adding other fibers make it much less warm. I need a good reason to buy anything with more than 15% wool in it.

Socs and mittens I make myself and make them HUGE and wery "airy" (use much thicker knitting needels than adviced). I then felt it, most of the time using the washingmachine- together with jeans or towels. Super warm and almost windproof but not superstrong. Mending it and then feltingthe mended area is part of the game.

Mrs. G1nko is a knitaholic. Consequently, I'm up to my eyeballs in wool. Sometimes you can't open the front door for all the wool in the house. She would never wash wool in anything but Eucalan and would never put it in the dryer unless she is intentionally felting the wool.

Mrs. G1nko doesn't think you can restore the wool. The fiber loss is probably minimal; rather, you've changed the way the fibers link. In the future, use Eucalan.

Thanks for posting everyone. I've ordered some of these items you speak of above for my wool items. Cheers, biketofeel

Thanks, everyone. I'll get some Eucalan when the snow lets up and use that in the future. It sounds like I'll probably wind up giving the base layers to the cat, too, but I'll see if I can find some lanolin first.

ditto

I find the cycling addiction and knitting addiction harmonization is nearly perfect.