Trouble washing wool numnahs

Charlie31

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Can anybody help me with a problem I'm having washing my wool numnah please?

When I put the numnah in the machine it always comes out with some patches that are dry and still dirty and smelly, as though the water and detergent just haven't got through to those bits.

I never used to have this problem with my old machine but moved house a year ago and the new machine that came with the house couldn't seem to cope. I thought it was because it had a small drum so I bought a new machine with a 7kg drum (machine at old house had a 6kg drum and was fine). I have just tried to wash the numnah in the new machine though and the same thing has happened, grr!

So it's going through again now and hopefully the whole thing will be wet eventually but has anybody else had this problem and if so, how did you solve it? Or does anybody more experienced in washing machines than me have any suggestions? I really don't want to end up washing the thing by hand but I don't feel like I'm getting it truly clean at the moment, even if I wash it several times.

It's one of the Nuumed lightweight ones by the way, so not even one of the big really chunky numbers.

Thanks in advance.
 

Goldenstar

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Oh odd ,
I wash mine in woolite .
Does your washer have a aqua plus setting ? If so try using it .
I turn mine wool side out ( towards the drum )before I put them in the washer .
 

DD265

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Could you put something (like a tennis ball, or proper dryer ball) in to help agitate?

I wonder if bits are getting wet but then get so heavy, it stays folded over on itself. Can you watch it a bit to see what's happening?
 

Charlie31

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I didn't think you were supposed to use fabric conditioner on wool? Worth a go though.

I presume aqua plus means more water going in? I had a look at my machine and it has something with a different name but that seems to do the same thing so I'll try that in the future. Today I washed the numnah again but did it on a synthetic cycle (with reduced temp and spin speed) rather than the dedicated wool wash and that seems to have been better. I'll just have to hope I don't end up with a numnah that's shrunk to only fit a child's saddle.

Good ideas re putting in a tennis ball and putting it in wool side out too, I will try those in the future.

Thanks everyone.
 

Fiona

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I have exactly the same problem OP even down to buying a machine with bigger drum. Electrolux by any chance?

I always fold the wool side out too :(

Fiona
 

Allsorts0413

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I gently scrub mine in the bath using cool soapy water and work in some hair conditioner. I then put it in the machine. I don't think a wool wash is designed for dirty horse numnahs!.Hence they don't always wash up as well as expected. My machine also really struggles to spin them.
 

Pinkvboots

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I just put mine on a normal 30 degree wash with detergent and they come up lovely, your not supposed to use any fabric softner on wool and a wool wash will be too mild to get them clean enough.
 

Dubsie

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I brush mine with a body brush. Then I rinse in the sink with some wool wash detergent to get the worst off and so it goes in the machine wet (ie heavier - modern machines fill with water depending on the weight of the items - then do a wool cycle in the machine.
 

Christmas Crumpet

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I put mine in at 30 degrees on a normal quick wash (1 hour) and that works fab. The wool wash or delicate wash on our machine is rubbish and doesn't even wash wooly jumpers properly!! I do always use hand wash liquid though.
 

Charlie31

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Thanks for all the helpful advice on this. Sounds like the best plan then is to not use the wool wash anymore, that makes sense so I'll stick to synthetics but reduce the temperature and hope that works okay. Putting it in wet to increase the amount of water that goes in makes sense too.

That wool wash liquid looks good. I was using the stuff that Nuumed sell but have just run out so might well give that stuff a go.

Thanks again everyone.
 

ester

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I have had this happen too, actually I think it only happens on a proper wool wash, at 30C 30 min quick wash (which supposedly uses less water) seems to work fine! I just use random pink wool wash stuff from tesco, though don't use more than it says because you are in a hard water area and your numnah is filthy as it seems to foam very very well!
 

Charlie31

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Ha ha, I remember once washing a numnah at my old house and wandering into the kitchen to find an excess of foamy suds all over the floor! Oops!
 
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