Caring for your yak wool shawl
Yak wool gets softer with age if you let it. Wash it rarely, dry it flat, and keep it away from the one thing that actually ruins it.
Yak wool is a coarse-looking fibre that behaves like a fine one. Treated properly a shawl lasts decades and gets softer the whole time. Treated like a cotton shirt it will be a felted board inside a year.
Wash it less than you think
Wool is self-cleaning in a way cotton isn't — the fibre's scales shed dirt, and airing a shawl overnight removes most odour. Two or three washes a year is normal, even in regular use. Spot-clean anything else.
When you do wash it
- Cold water. Not lukewarm — cold. Heat plus movement is what felts wool, and the two together are unforgiving.
- A capful of wool detergent, or baby shampoo. No biological powders: the enzymes that break down protein stains also break down the fibre.
- Submerge, press gently, leave it fifteen minutes. Do not agitate, wring or rub.
- Rinse cold until the water runs clear.
- Press the water out between two towels, roll it up, press again.
Drying
Flat, in shade, away from any radiator. Reshape it while damp — pull it gently back to a rectangle and square off the corners. Hanging a wet shawl stretches it out of shape permanently, because the weight of the water pulls on fibres that are at their weakest when saturated.
The thing that actually ruins it
Moths. Not wear, not washing — moths. They go for stored wool that's been worn: it's the traces of skin and sweat they eat, not the fibre itself. So wash a shawl before you put it away for the season, not after you take it out. Store it folded in a breathable cotton bag with cedar or lavender. Never sealed in plastic, which traps moisture and invites mildew.
Pilling is normal
New yak wool pills for the first few weeks as short fibres work loose. That is the shawl settling, not falling apart. Take the pills off with a wool comb and it stops.
