How often should you wash merino wool ?

We have all heard of Merino wool and maybe you own one of our merino wool scarves or throws. But how often should I wash my merino wool item is one question many people wonder that I wanted to explore in this blog.

Merino wool is a relatively new fibre to mainstream shopping that is becoming more and more popular and originated in Spain, not New Zealand as you may think. It is fabulous to wear as it is light, soft, super warm and the fine fibres are also slightly wind resistant.

At Christmas, I bought my husband some merino wool thermals from a company called Dilling. Dilling supplies mulesing-free merino wool as well as Findra which is a British company, slight sidetrack but great company. The result is he totally loves them, has worn them every day since then and washed them once, yes once.

So let’s get to the question, how often should I was my merino wool item?

So the facts are merino wool fibres actually absorb odour caused by bacteria, trapping the smell and keeping them from building up and therefore the fibre is antibacterial.

After researching on the net the first suggestion I found was to wash them every three months and the next one said when needed.  Finally, I found you can also just air merino outside on the line to freshen it up as a pose to washing. The choice really is yours but there are scientific reasons behind merino not needing to be washed like other fibres or even other wools so you can rest easy and hold off from washing knowing there are reasons.

Just to add to this story merino wool thermals have been used by astronauts in space due to their antibacterial qualities so merino wool isn’t restricted to just wool lovers. I also wanted to add here something really interesting which was a challenge called the 100 day merino wool dress challenge which I have mentioned on my Facebook page and love the idea of. This is where women are encouraged to wear a merino wool dress for 100 days and then receive $100 towards a dress if they do. The reasons for this are here but the main ones are to show how wool is a “performance fibre” and how little we really need in life.

So merino wool really is an amazing fibre in my eyes, not quite as expensive or luxurious as Cashmere but with other properties that make it a real all-around hero of mine. It’s a definite choice for thermals for me or for lying under when I take an afternoon nap or seaside adventure

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So if you haven’t tried merino I strongly advise you to pop on our website and get a scarf or throws and lastly as we always like to remind you if you choose to buy wool over synthetic fibres then you choose a totally biodegradable fibre that lasts much longer than its synthetic counterparts and leave no trace.

Photo by Flavio Gasperini on Unsplash