Thomask702
32 Cal.
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2010
- Messages
- 15
- Reaction score
- 1
Hello everyone! My name is Thomas and i live in southern Nevada. i Am originally from Oregon, and have been participating in Historical Reenacting since i was old enough to walk. Originally we belonged to the Penninsula Long Rifle Association, in Sequiem, Washington. Now we are members of the Spring Mountain Free Trappers.
Down to the business.
I purchased an old Hudson Bay Company 4 point blanket off of ebay a while back thinking that it would be good for trekking and beating around the bush with. It was an ugly light sea- foam green with a darker green stripe on each end. i decided after some research and consulting that i would try to dye it, full it and replace some of the oils back into the wool. Here is what i did.
First wash, HOT water, medium load and long cycle with a whole bottle of Dark Green RIT dye.
Second wash, HOT water, medium load, one 10oz bottle of NikWax Polar Fleece washable water repellant. i also threw in a fleece sweater that my roommate uses as a jacket to get it to shed water. ( collected alot of wool fluff in the dryer, i may add. )
i then dried it in my clothes dryer on low heat for 50 minuts.
The blanket came out a beautiful color of Dark Jade green, it did not shrink more than a few inches and the nap is completely restored, and i would say better than a brand new wool blanket from any manufacturer. I had left it to air dry the rest of the way.
It has been raining all week, so next time it pours i am going to go out in it, drink some hot tea and smoke a few ciggerettes and test the water repellency. i can already tell that it is going to be much warmer than it was before. i can also feel the waxes and oils that are now present in the wool itself.
I hope this small tutorial helps everyone out! alot of us use wool blankets in lew of a buffler robe. Alot of people are scared of machine washing a wool anything, because of horror stories. i fulled a 70% wool blanket from an online mail order store. it is very thin, not fulled at all and for the most part useless. after washing twice and drying once it is now almost to the point of being something i can use in the woods. That was my test run before the HB blanket was thrown in.
-Keep your powder dry
-Treekiller
Down to the business.
I purchased an old Hudson Bay Company 4 point blanket off of ebay a while back thinking that it would be good for trekking and beating around the bush with. It was an ugly light sea- foam green with a darker green stripe on each end. i decided after some research and consulting that i would try to dye it, full it and replace some of the oils back into the wool. Here is what i did.
First wash, HOT water, medium load and long cycle with a whole bottle of Dark Green RIT dye.
Second wash, HOT water, medium load, one 10oz bottle of NikWax Polar Fleece washable water repellant. i also threw in a fleece sweater that my roommate uses as a jacket to get it to shed water. ( collected alot of wool fluff in the dryer, i may add. )
i then dried it in my clothes dryer on low heat for 50 minuts.
The blanket came out a beautiful color of Dark Jade green, it did not shrink more than a few inches and the nap is completely restored, and i would say better than a brand new wool blanket from any manufacturer. I had left it to air dry the rest of the way.
It has been raining all week, so next time it pours i am going to go out in it, drink some hot tea and smoke a few ciggerettes and test the water repellency. i can already tell that it is going to be much warmer than it was before. i can also feel the waxes and oils that are now present in the wool itself.
I hope this small tutorial helps everyone out! alot of us use wool blankets in lew of a buffler robe. Alot of people are scared of machine washing a wool anything, because of horror stories. i fulled a 70% wool blanket from an online mail order store. it is very thin, not fulled at all and for the most part useless. after washing twice and drying once it is now almost to the point of being something i can use in the woods. That was my test run before the HB blanket was thrown in.
-Keep your powder dry
-Treekiller
