Washing Tips: How to Wash Finished Handmade Items?

Dear users and authors,
do you have any tips for washing finished handmade items (knitted, crocheted, sewn, etc.)?

When I sew a Ragtime quilt, to make it look its best, I have to put it in the washing machine after sewing—only then do the open seams really stand out. Otherwise, it depends on whether I wash it or not.
Ragtime quilt 

Before washing, you should take a close look at the label on your yarn. There, you can check the washing and care symbols to see how items made from this yarn should be washed. This is very important.

Here’s how I usually do it: I wash most of my hand-knitted or crocheted items in lukewarm water with shampoo in the sink (laundry detergent usually contains optical brighteners). Then I rinse them thoroughly several times. After that, I put them in a laundry bag and spin-dry them in the washing machine at 600 rpm. The items will still have some residual moisture at this point. This allows me to lay them flat on a blanket so they can finish drying in that shape.

I also wash delicate wool in the sink with lukewarm water, shampoo, or wool detergent, without rubbing or kneading it too much. Just let it soak a bit and swish it gently so nothing felts. Then I gently squeeze out the water (do not wring it out!!!), roll it up in two thick bath towels, and lay it flat to dry on the drying rack with a dry, thick towel underneath.
Less delicate items like cotton and items made with sock yarn go into the washing machine on the hand-wash cycle (no fabric softener!!!) and are also dried flat.

I’m not that picky—I always wash my items in the machine with my other clothes, following the instructions on the label.
I don’t buy wool that’s labeled “hand wash” any more than I buy ready-made clothing that can only be hand-washed.
I only hand-wash the first time, just like I do with my colorful store-bought items. Simply because they often still bleed color. If they bleed a lot, I might even hand-wash them a second or third time.
That’s always worked well for me so far.

Oh, and I haven’t used fabric softener in a long time. I think it’s completely unnecessary even for “regular” laundry, and in my opinion, it does more harm to the fibers than it does any good. 

Have you ever tried color-catching sheets that you can simply toss in the washing machine with your laundry?
They actually absorb excess dye.

Yes, Josefa, I always use color-catcher sheets for my felted shoes. I knit them using several colors of untreated and dyed wool. So the colors always bleed because they haven’t been treated in any way. And in the washing machine, all the colors would mix together mercilessly if I didn’t put two of these sheets in with them. That way, all the colors stay where they belong, and the excess ends up in the sheet.

Oh, I just remembered that, for example, after hand-washing and rinsing shawls, I spread them out flat directly on a large microfiber towel and then roll the shawl up. Then I press down on the towel with the flat of my hand. The microfibers really do a great job of absorbing the liquid/moisture from the shawl.

After that, I unroll it again, and it’s almost dry. Then I let it air-dry lying flat for a bit (not on the wet towel), and that’s it.

While I’m at it:
Ina, what’s the best way to wash those little felt boots you made?
I’m kind of hesitant to try. I’m afraid they might felt further or lose their shape.

I use color-catching sheets when I wash my colorful quilts so the colors don’t bleed into each other

Hi Hexenfleiss, I’ll send you a private message regarding your question.