THE REVIEW

There are few topics in the knitting world that evoke passion like wool wash does. Every knitter has their favorite, and their reason why. However, I’ve noticed a trend lately in local yarn shops to carry Eucalan, so I wanted to try it out for myself.

INITIAL REACTIONS: The first point that grabbed my attention is that this is a “no rinse” wool wash. I live in a state that consistently faces droughts, so I get excited any time I can avoid using additional water. Also, I love that the solution has a very low soap-to-water ratio, much lower than other wool washes I’ve used. The scent is pleasant (I got the Eucalyptus, which is the original scent). I also like that the ingredients list includes lanolin, which helps the wool preserves so many of its amazing qualities (like staying waterproof) and keeps it full of life as well.

The website also states that this can be used for washing cloth diapers and in a washing machine, but those tests were outside the scope of this review.

THE TESTS:  I’ve been using Eucalan exclusively to wash and block my handknits for about a month now. I have been knitting exclusively using wool blends due to the season, and I was interested to see what level of risk I could take with this soap to get items clean and not worry about accidentally felting.

I started with the Wanda Estelle poncho, an ascot, and a cowl. I followed the directions on the label to use tepid water and follow the ratio of wool wash to water. I let all my blocked items soak for a least an hour (I habitually wet block) so that I knew that the water really penetrated the fiber staples. From there, I gently agitated the items in the water to ensure that any remaining dirt or oils were really washed off. I rolled the items in towel and pressed the excess water out, then pinned everything out to dry. It took about two days for everything to dry completely. The items are all clean, and I’m pleased with how easy it was to wash them. There was no felting.

I found that these results were consistent as I continued to use the wash. The water would always start out clean, but it would end dirty. I did find that the scent, while pleasing, can be a bit too intense for my liking. Thankfully, Eucalan offers a scent-free version. If you have a scent or essential oil allergy, that’s definitely a point to take into consideration.

I did play around with also rinsing garments before pressing out the excess water. That helped lower the intensity of the scent, but otherwise I found no difference in performance.

I’ve also been using this to wash socks that I’ve worn several times, and I started to agitate those garments even more aggressively on the third and fourth washes as I got more comfortable with this wool wash. I still have not seen a sign of felting (which, granted, has more to do with water temperature and agitation than the wash you use), but it seems to me that the wool wash does a good job of getting items clean without having to get too aggressive.

I did not have any stained or spotted items to test, but I feel fairly confident based on what I’ve seen that it will handle those situations well.

THE TAKEAWAY: I think that this is a really solid option for an everyday wool wash. It gets garments clean and I love the no-rinse option.