Can wool pants be washed?

Dry cleaning is a PITA for me. The closest place is 30 kilometers from my house and is open only in the mornings.

I have four pairs of dress wool pants (two heavy wool and two light, summer, wool). They all say on them "dry clean only". I also have a washer-dryer that has a wool cycle and a bottle of "Woolite".

Is there any reason that they really have to be dry cleaned? What will happen if I put them in the washer?

Have faith Dovster, help is at hand. Making a search for "washing dry-clean only clothing" will give you a host of hints.

In my house we do not use dry cleaning at all, not even for my ridiculously expensive fine wool suits. We use Woolite and hand wash them, as we do everything else that is silk or wool. That includes sweaters, skirts, the aforementioned suits.

There are four steps we use:
1) If there are any spots the treatmenst depends on the type:
if wine, food, anything greasy- lie garment flat, put a generous amount of any talc on the garment and let it stand for at least 12 hours. That should be done as soon as possible after the stain happens. Then brush the talc out. That removes almost all stains. For nastier stains there are a variety of cleaning sticks on the market in the US where we buy them, I do not know about Israel.
2) using a small amount of Woolite and cold water (it MUST be cold water) gently wash the garment. Rinse it completely but do not twist it to extract water
3) Block the garment on a clean white fluffy towel (s). For some thinker garments we often do that two or three times until the garment becomes dry. Do not pull or stretch, just place the garment flat on the towel(s).
4) Before the garment is 100% dry iron. The ironing is the most critical part because the garment must be humid enough for the ironing to remove wrinkles, of which there are many at this point, but not damage the garment.

Ours work perfectly this way. We have not used a dry cleaner for many years.

Soaking the pants in cool water for a couple of hours will loosen most of the dirt.
Remove Pants and drain the cool water and add warm water, disolve 1-2 tsp of liquid detergent into the water and mix. Gently move pants around in the water aviod rubbing or wringing them. Drain water, run cold water and rinse.
Place pants between two towels to soak up excess water, repeat as needed, lay flat to air dry turning as needed.
Wait a minute, this is just a Dovster ploy to meet women...please disregard.

It is strange that he only has responses from men. Has he had that problem for a very long time?What sex is UIG?

I put all wool into the washing machine. Use the wool program, check that its washed cold and no spinning. I use wool washing creme. Never had trouble with anything. Just wring it after washing (it will be soaked with water) and lay it on a towel to dry.

OK, Dov, now you have one.

I'm a senior citizen. I try to avoid wool.

Me too, but I use wool when going to cold places

If you do this often, I'd suggest investing in a pair of pant stretchers - these are metal frames that you insert into the legs while the trousers are drying. You can arrange it so the edges sit right on the crease. You then hang the trousers upside down until they're dry. They give a great look and crisp pleat, and help avoid shrinkage while drying.

Dovster's women are well trained. They know he prefers non-talkative nymphomaniacs.

Lipton and I had a very sad experience. A short time ago we met on MP and fell madly in love with each other.

Then we discovered that she is much too old for me.

Right -- but keep quiet.

Yes, but are your pants cleaned and pressed now?

Not yet. I may try to do it this weekend. Then again, I might be too lazy.

My instructions were approved by my laundress, and I translated them to English. That is the closest I have come to actually doing it myself. Mrs. jb does it once in a while though.

LOL

Again, LOL! You guys are pullin out all the stops

Soak any stains out with Oxy-Clean and Tide (a bit of hot water is needed at first to melt the OC, just a bit) and then I throw it in the Wool/Handwash cycle on my machine. That is how you do it, buy a machine that has that setting

Dovster don't you think you should have a professionally structured response to lisamcgu? She is, after all, a California girl, therefore wholesome, thoughtful, considerate and possessing a good sense of humor. For you to ignore her seems churlish. I do not understand, maybe Cholula or Canarsie might have greater insight.

He seems to be not responding as he is offline. In fact, he hasn't even acknowledged another fine lady who helped him get to 1,000 status pts! Yes, she did it ... well, okay, I guess Dovster helped a bit, but anyway he is there! Congratulations Dovster!!

Wool we ever stop panting and get this discussion back on topic before someone either socks or belts someone else and considers this discussion a wash?

pant Stretchers??? Are those still around? Used them in high school when my mother revolted and said you're over 16 now do your own d... ironing.

Just about anything can be washed so the answer is yes.

Do you remember the topic? Oh, Dovsters search for women, is that it?

Try Dryel. www.dryel.com I even use it on Hunki's Armani tux.

Oh, and yes, you can wash anything, but washing wool pants, sweaters, etc., blocking them and making sure they come out perfectly, is an even bigger PITA than going to the dry cleaners.