WOOL CLOTHING CARE

How to Care for Your Merino Wool Clothing

Please read the following care instructions, from our supplier in Italy, in order to assure that your Merino wool lasts a long time and maintains a proper shape: 1) USE a proper WOOL SOAP. The recommended brand is IVORY SNOW LIQUID, you can find it at any major grocery store. *** NEVER EVER use a standard aggressive detergent like TIDE, Arm & Hammer, ERA, or "whatever" normal detergent on merino wool. It is not made for wool and it'll eat holes in it and ruin the jersey. It is like sand blasting gravy off of fine china dinner plates! Way over the top and too harsh. *** Fair Warning. *** 2) WASHING - Your Merino wool garments are Total Easy Care treated, machine washable and tested. Follow the wash instructions on the inside of the garments and you'll be sitting pretty. Wash inside out, zippers up, in cold or luke warm water on delicate WOOL CYCLE ONLY with the aforementioned wool soap. Please do not use the permanent press cycle, nor mix with your other non-wool garments. WOOL CYCLE ONLY separate (or with other wool)!!! The delicate wool cycle is a fast cycle of about 25 minutes. Since wool doesn't hold odor like an artificial material, you won't need to wash these items until after the sixth or seventh use (individual body types may change this slightly, but they shouldn't need to be washed every time). 3) DRYING - lay flat on a towel, inside, away from direct sun light to dry. Don't hang them up nor dry them outside in sunlight. That is all. Pretty simple. For some extra tips you may try the following but, these are user tips, not manufacturer tips. To dry faster naturally, lay the garment flat and put a book in the bottom of the jersey to prop it up and point a floor fan at it filling it like a balloon. This can speed the drying time to 25 minutes, depending on temperature and humidity. Once the top is dry, flip it and put little biz cards (without bleedable ink) in each pocket and point the fan so it blows in the pockets. 4) SOFTNESS and RELAXATION - The wool gets much softer and more elastic after the first wash, so it is best best to wash your garment before using it for the first time. There will be an initial relaxation of the garment (about 3 cm in width for a size large jersey). This is not shrinkage, but relaxation. Like a rubber band under tension returning to it's natural state. The sizing takes this into consideration. Shrinking happened with wools 30 years ago along with itchiness. Back then, wool fibers were breaking an sticking out, and the inconsistent fibers used caused ratcheting down, which resulted in shrinkage. Today, technology in wool treatment has come light years forward. If you follow these instructions and continue to buy fine wool products such as our cycling apparel, you will see years of consistent sizing and comfortable use. 5) STORAGE - Our garments are made of the best Merino wool on earth treated for machine washing, color permanence, and super softness. Additionally, these garments have undergone an Anti Moth treatment. No one else does that! With that said, let's not give any of those critters a chance of a free meal. Always store your fully dry wool items in a sealed ziplock bag in a drawer that is used often. Why you ask? Well the type of moth that likes your clothes, hate LIGHT and they really hate MOVEMENT. So when you toss clothes in a dark corner of a closet and leave it there for a long time, the moths think "A! SWEET!, chow time without being disturbed!" But when you keep the jersey in a sealed bag in a drawer with clothes that you access daily (t-shirts, underwear, jeans etc), the opening and moving things around makes it unattractive for moths and reduces greatly any potential of damage. Now you know how they operate!