What "machine washable" means on a band
Wool felts when heat, water and agitation lock its scales together. Superwash wool has had the scales stripped or coated, so it will not felt — and that is the whole promise. Machine washable on a band means cold or cool water, a gentle or wool cycle, and drying flat. It does not mean hot, it does not mean a normal cycle with the towels, and unless the band says so it does not mean the dryer. The superwash guide explains the treatment and what it does to the yarn's hand and drape.
Two of the lines below say tumble dry low. The dryer's heat does not felt superwash wool, but tumbling is hard on stitches and most bands keep it out. Everything else here is dry flat.
Cold and gentle
A wool or delicate cycle. Take it out when the cycle ends.
Dry flat
Press it in a towel, lay it out, and push the ribbing together.
The dryer is extra
Only BaaBaa Bulky and Plymouth Baby Alpaca Worsted say tumble dry low.
Cotton, linen and acrylic have no scales to lock. They do not need the superwash treatment and most are machine washable by nature — but cotton shrinks in a hot dryer, and a cotton garment stretched out of shape on a hanger stays that way.
The machine-washable lines, by weight
The care line is each band's own wording. A line marked superwash on its page but hand wash on its band — Ewe Ewe Ewe So Sporty is one — will not felt by accident, but treat it as hand wash.
Fingering and sock
- Dream in Color Jilly, superwash merino: machine wash gentle cold, dry flat. 440 yd, hand-dyed, $29.95.
- Schoppel Zauberball Crazy and Zauberball Starke 6, superwash wool with nylon: machine wash.
- West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4ply, Araucania Huasco Sock, HiKoo Madrona: sock blends with nylon, machine wash gentle cold.
- Schoppel Ambiente/Lifestyle: superwash merino sock, machine wash, $13.95 for 50 g.
- Zitron Feinheit, organic superwash merino: gentle cycle cold, dry flat.
DK and sport
- Malabrigo Arroyo, superwash merino: machine wash, dry flat. 335 yd, 19 hand-dyed colors.
- HiKoo Simplicity, superwash merino with acrylic and nylon: machine washable. $8.50 for 50 g, 43 colors — the baby-cardigan yarn by price.
- HiKoo Sueño, superwash merino with bamboo: machine wash cold, dry flat.
- Schoppel Edition 3, self-striping superwash merino: machine wash, dry flat.
- Sirdar Snuggly 100% Cotton: machine wash, dry flat. $4.65 for 50 g.
- Juniper Moon Zooey, Zooey Stripes and Zooey Spray, cotton and linen: machine washable.
- Berroco Remix Light, recycled cotton blend: machine wash, dry flat.
- Malabrigo Rios, superwash merino: machine washable cold, do not tumble. 210 yd, 50 hand-dyed colors, the most-knit sweater yarn on the site.
- Plymouth Worsted Merino Superwash: machine wash. 218 yd, 33 colors, $18.50.
- Ewe Ewe Wooly Worsted and Heather's Heathers Wooly Worsted, superwash merino: machine wash cold, dry flat. 95 yd to 50 g.
- HiKoo Simpliworsted, superwash merino with acrylic and nylon: machine wash. 41 colors.
- HiKoo Sueño Worsted: machine wash cold, dry flat.
- Dream in Color Classy, hand-dyed superwash merino: machine wash cold, dry flat.
- Blue Sky Fibers Sweater, superwash wool with organic cotton: machine wash.
- Plymouth Baby Alpaca Worsted, the one alpaca: wash cold, gentle; tumble dry low.
- Berroco Sesame, a self-striping superwash blend: machine wash cold, delicate; dry flat.
- Ewe Ewe BaaBaa Bulky, superwash merino: machine wash, tumble dry low or dry flat. 132 yd, 18 colors.
- Berroco Wizard, self-striping superwash merino with nylon: machine wash cold, delicate; dry flat.
- Zitron Form & Farbe, superwash merino super bulky: gentle cycle cold, dry flat.
The superwash merino shelf and the baby yarn shelf collect the superwash lines; every yarn page shows the band's care line under the specifications.
For a baby
A baby yarn has to be soft against new skin, washable without thought, and safe: no halo that sheds into a mouth, no long floats or loose cables for fingers, nothing that needs drying for two days when there is one blanket. Light and mid-tone colors show the stitches and hide less than you would hope; dark colors hide stains and show lint.
For a blanket, a superwash worsted — Rios, Plymouth Worsted Merino Superwash, Wooly Worsted — or Simpliworsted if the budget is tight, and the blanket yardage guide for the count. For a cardigan or booties, Simplicity at DK or Rios at worsted; Ewe So Sporty is the right weight but its band says hand wash, so keep it for a parent who will. For a summer baby, Sirdar Snuggly 100% Cotton or Blue Sky Organic Cotton — the Blue Sky is hand wash on the band, the Sirdar goes in the machine. The baby knits guide covers sizing and what to knit first.
For a gift
Assume the recipient will not hand wash, whatever they say, and choose from the lists above. Tuck the ball band into the gift, or write wash cold, gentle, dry flat on the card: a superwash sweater that goes through a hot normal cycle with the jeans will not felt, but it will stretch and the ribbing will not come back. A label with the yarn name lets them find more of it if they want to add a matching hat.
If the person is sensitive to wool, Plymouth Baby Alpaca Worsted is the washable alpaca; Simplicity and Simpliworsted carry acrylic and nylon that soften the merino further; and the cottons have no wool at all.
Washing it
Cold water, the wool or delicate cycle, a mesh bag, and a wool wash or a drop of ordinary detergent — no fabric softener, which coats the fiber. Take it out as soon as the cycle ends, press it in a towel, lay it flat and pat it to shape. Reshape the ribbing by pushing it together, not pulling it. Do not hang a wet wool garment; it will be two inches longer by evening. Dry it out of the sun.
The dryer only where the band says, on low, and take the garment out damp. Superwash garments grow with washing over the years; a cold wash and flat drying slow that down, and a hot dryer speeds it up.
If a superwash sweater has grown, a wash and a careful flat dry, pushing it back to size while wet, recovers most of it. The care guide covers blocking, storing and moths.
