But bear with me. There's been a lot written across the internet recently about how you can use ivy leaves as a wool detergent. With all this warm weather I don't have much need of my woollies, so it seemed the perfect time to get things laundered and try out this crazy idea.
I went off into the wilder reaches of the garden and gathered myself a big bowl of ivy leaves, which I washed under the tap to rid them of their cobwebs and dust. Next I tied the leaves in an old T-towel so that they wouldn't escape and mess around with the inner workings of my washing machine. I placed my trial woolly jumper in a mesh wash bag, and placed it in the machine along with the bundle of leaves and popped them on the wool-wash cycle.
Job done, I flat dried the jumper and discarded the ivy leaves in the compost bin. And, when I came back the next morning to check how my jumper had dried, I was delighted to discover how soft it felt. Perfectly, beautifully, duckling's down soft. The wash lacked the scent of freshly washed clothes that comes from modern detergents, but that could easily be improved by adding a few drops of lavender oil to the rinse cycle.
Whilst there's not a lot of science or formulae to my suggestion it strikes me as a pretty perfect, no-cost, good-for-the-environment solution to the wool wash.
Give it a go, and see for yourself.
All the best for now,
Bonny x
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