Wool and allergies

Night, Thank you for taking the time to share this valuable information. I truly appreciate it! Barbara in FL

This is all according to how I understand it. You do not get points off the follow up quiz for proving me wrong. I appreciate input about such things.

A LOT of people think they are allergic to wool. A lot of them are wrong. Wool allergies are actually pretty rare. Much more common are allergies to lanolin, or the chemicals used to scour or dye commercial wool, or to make it washable (superwash wool). It's like if new fabric gives you a rash, but after you wash it a few times you are fine with it. That happens more often than you would think.

Wool has gotten a reputation, mostly because of cheap wool. Cheaper wools are usually the coarser wools. Coarse wools can feel prickly and scratchy on the skin. It is not what the fiber is made of, it is the thickness of the individual fibers. If you take almost any fiber that has an average diameter of 25-30 microns, spin it, and turn it into fabric it will most likely itch you, possibly to the point of causing a rash depending on how sensitive your skin is. The greater of the number of fibers 30 microns or more in diameter, the scratchier it will feel.

Now so far as quilt batting goes, if it is treated to prevent bearding then you run no risk of itching no matter how coarse the wool is. Though if you are an allergic person you run the risk of the resins and chemicals causing a reaction. If it won't beard then the fibers won't poke you and make you itch after they are sandwiched into the quilt. A couple of companies are making batting using blends incorporating fine wools, mostly those from the merino family. I have dressed babies in merino and they were fine and warm with no rash or discomfort. It seems a bit overkill for a quilt batting, but if it makes people more confident about using it then I guess it works.

Anecdote: One of the places I get spinning fiber from sells mill ends and bin trash from the Brown Sheep mill. I spun up some bin trash (I am pretty sure it was from a Wildfoote run as it was superwash and contained mohair and nylon) and knit some shooting mittens for a particular hunter of my acquaintance. She loved and wore them for a couple of seasons before she mentioned to me that she was allergic to wool. She still wears them, and has decided that she is only allergic to some certain particular wool. Yeah, really coarse wool. (G)

NightMist

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That was very, very interesting Nighmist. Thank you for going to all this trouble. It was very interesting to me, because some sweaters I feel 'itchy' in, but there is never a rash - I've never called it an allergy, but thought that my ultrasensitive skin didn't like it! I will have to make a note of the kinds of wool I seem to be able to wear, and why that might be (I'll check the 'ingredients'). I have a place where I sometimes shop that does a lot of merino wool. I have, in the past, discounted wool, but latterly I seem to have a problem with acrylic as well. So, your exposé about thickness of fibres etc makes huge sense. Thank you for a piece of science I didn't know I needed. Wonderful!

Pat on the green

I'm like you, even acrylic isn't always comfortable, really interesting, thanks.

Janner

France

Very interesting and it makes sense too! I had wanted to try wool batting but after reading so many articles about the wool batting causing allergies, I shied away from it. But perhaps, it was a problem only for a few and maybe it was from some other ingredient. Who knows? So. I am going to try wool batting too now. Thanks NightMist. KT. in MI

My parents used to make things with wool; my father would spin and weave (he'd come home from work, have his dinner and just trance out at the spinning wheel for an hour or two) and my mother would knit. My father was an architect for the New Zealand government, designing things like post offices, reform schools and scientific research labs. The local animal husbandry research lab was the biggest job he ever did, and he ended up being supplied with all the wool he could use from their Experimental Sheep. Mostly it was brown to beige and whatever you made from it had a texture like a pot scourer. I still have some of the sweaters my mum knitted nearly 50 years ago. I think the moths broke their teeth on them. They finally decided that the wool from the Experimental Sheep was ideal for making carpets. So imagine wearing one.

We also got Experimental Wine from the government vineyards, the folks who created the New Zealand wine industry as it is today. My father supplemented that with home-made stuff using whatever fruit he could find, but figured that sterile technique was for wimps. In summer there was always a wobbling blob of filter bag in the utility room and a line of bottles along the side of the house bubbling evilly. (I ended up with fairly strange tastes in wine: currently my fave is the "Chocolate Shop" wine from our local supermarket with lots of added sugar and chocolate flavouring. The more expensive wine is, the more disgusting I'll find it).

A lot of the time it was like living in an episode of the Simpsons. I had the Bart role - spent a lot of my time in the shed mixing up agricultural chemicals to make them pong and go up in coloured flames.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- e m a i l : j a c k @ c a m p i n . m e . u k Jack Campin, 11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22 4PU, Scotland mobile 07800 739 557 Twitter: JackCampin

Now that we are a bit smarter (?), even the event 'allergic' gives us pause for thought or backing off and reconsidering. My sister is / was violently allergic to cats. Now she has a magnificent uppity quite pretentious QI and no allergy in sight. How much of this was in our heads? Just lately, my eyes swell, my nose runs and my delicate sensibilities are offended by scents in laundry detergent. Druther go pound my wash in the creek and lay it to dry on the gators. A quandary, methinks. Polly

Just reread this and saw I made a slight boo boo. I don't know what I was thinking when I typed the number of microns, but it should be 30 to 35, not 25 to 30. pretty much any wool that averages under 30 should be comfortable, and the ones under 25 are quite yummy on the skin. Over 35 and it should be going to outerwear, carpets, and tapestries instead of next to the skin clothing. I correct this because sometimes places sell wool and woolens by breed, or brag about their sheep. Knowing the breed gives you an easily findable average micron count.

NightMist

Some cat breeds are less allergenic than others, so this might not be all in her head.

Fabric conditioner is a common trigger for childhood asthma. Yucky stuff. Why can't they make it unscented?

But before you try the alternative, get tested for gator allergy.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- e m a i l : j a c k @ c a m p i n . m e . u k Jack Campin, 11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22 4PU, Scotland mobile 07800 739 557 Twitter: JackCampin

Have you tried any of the "free and clear" detergents that claim not to be perfumed? I use Seventh Generation Free and Clear; it does not have any noticeable odor. Stay away from fabric softener and dryer sheets. I use the washer's fabric softener dispenser for white vinegar; it helps to ensure that the detergent rinses out, as well as deodorizes and acts somewhat as a fabric softener. Before I started using the vinegar, my husband's undershirts always seemed to have some residual perspiration odor, even after washing. I don't notice it now after using vinegar.

Julia in MN

Some cat breeds are less allergenic than others, so this might not be all in her head.

Fabric conditioner is a common trigger for childhood asthma. Yucky stuff. Why can't they make it unscented?

But before you try the alternative, get tested for gator allergy.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- e m a i l : j a c k @ c a m p i n . m e . u k Jack Campin, 11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22 4PU, Scotland mobile 07800 739 557 Twitter: JackCampin

My vet tells me that it most often the dander not the hair that causes allergic reactions. So logically how an allergic person responds is going to vary animal to animal.

We have been using an inexpensive "free & clear" detergent for most of our laundry. They changed the formula of the stuff we had been using and the household started breaking out in rashes. With a 5 year old (DD does her laundry at my house), and a 14 year old to wash for, sometimes we need to use something a little tougher than the average cheap liquid, so I turned to Dr Bronner. I had already been using the liquid castile they sell on wool and silk, so we tried the sal-suds on the cottons and synthetics. The stuff is the bomb on kid dirt, works pretty well on greasy spots too. The brand is a little pricey for every day washing, but for specialty laundry or as an addition now and again it works. For your average laundry the scent free cheap stuff with a little vinegar or a little washing soda works just fine. And as an FYI, laundry soda = soda ash = swimming pool chemical. I dye so I bought 50 pounds from a pool supply company. I use it for dyeing, laundry, hardcore cleaning tasks and cleaning the coffee pot. It's a bit of a godsend because the fumes from some of the heavier duty cleaning chemicals send DH into an asthma attack. Between vinegar and washing soda we have sorted that problem out and it is a LOT cheaper to boot.

IMO those dryer sheets (which I swear they dip into a vat of cheap perfume before they box them) are good for nothing but getting animal hair off stuff you cannot wash. For that task they have no equal. I just hate the smell of them though. I am not fond of most softeners in general. All they do is put a layer of oil over your fabrics. It does just what the label says it will, but many many of them feel greasy to me. Plus it makes your towels and things semi-water resistant, which seems kind of pointless to me. I do confess that if I have a piece of fabric that has stiffened up after I am done playing with it, have a cotton or rayon knit that feels a little crisp. or I have some silk that has lost drape after working with it, I will wash it with a little milsoft. Especially if it is yardage I am going to be sewing. It is easier to sew when it is a little stiff, and paradoxically I don't hesitate to use a little starch after softening it. It does reduce the number of popped threads due to needle cutting though.

NightMist a little manic lately, hence a lot wordy

Hee hee! Once I had a fellow ask me to knit him a sweater from one of his sheep. I was an eager young thing then, and didn't think to question whether he knew a darn thing about the animals he was raising. At that age I assumed everybody knew what they were doing. It was a bit of a shock when he presented me with a great grimy barely skirted Lincoln fleece. That was piece of work right there, and needless to say the resultant sweater was more than a bit itchy. Fortunately he wanted a fancy go auction sweater that he would be wearing over a shirt and undershirt.

We make our own wine and mead (when honey isn't quite so dear). Mostly because DH cannot handle the sulfites in commercial wine. In a good year when I am healthy we do cider or scrumpy, and DH does applejack when we get the long freeze. We tend to prefer fruity wines that are not too dry here. Not only is it less expensive to make your own, it is easier to get what you want these days. Plus we can glean the vineyards and make our own ice wine.

Somewhere back in DH's Scottish ancestry there has got to be at least one common relative...

NightMist

My vet tells me that it most often the dander not the hair that causes allergic reactions. So logically how an allergic person responds is going to vary animal to animal.

We have been using an inexpensive "free & clear" detergent for most of our laundry. They changed the formula of the stuff we had been using and the household started breaking out in rashes. With a 5 year old (DD does her laundry at my house), and a 14 year old to wash for, sometimes we need to use something a little tougher than the average cheap liquid, so I turned to Dr Bronner. I had already been using the liquid castile they sell on wool and silk, so we tried the sal-suds on the cottons and synthetics. The stuff is the bomb on kid dirt, works pretty well on greasy spots too. The brand is a little pricey for every day washing, but for specialty laundry or as an addition now and again it works. For your average laundry the scent free cheap stuff with a little vinegar or a little washing soda works just fine. And as an FYI, laundry soda = soda ash = swimming pool chemical. I dye so I bought 50 pounds from a pool supply company. I use it for dyeing, laundry, hardcore cleaning tasks and cleaning the coffee pot. It's a bit of a godsend because the fumes from some of the heavier duty cleaning chemicals send DH into an asthma attack. Between vinegar and washing soda we have sorted that problem out and it is a LOT cheaper to boot.

IMO those dryer sheets (which I swear they dip into a vat of cheap perfume before they box them) are good for nothing but getting animal hair off stuff you cannot wash. For that task they have no equal. I just hate the smell of them though. I am not fond of most softeners in general. All they do is put a layer of oil over your fabrics. It does just what the label says it will, but many many of them feel greasy to me. Plus it makes your towels and things semi-water resistant, which seems kind of pointless to me. I do confess that if I have a piece of fabric that has stiffened up after I am done playing with it, have a cotton or rayon knit that feels a little crisp. or I have some silk that has lost drape after working with it, I will wash it with a little milsoft. Especially if it is yardage I am going to be sewing. It is easier to sew when it is a little stiff, and paradoxically I don't hesitate to use a little starch after softening it. It does reduce the number of popped threads due to needle cutting though.

NightMist a little manic lately, hence a lot wordy

When I need to use a dryer sheet, I use the unsented that I have cut in half, to prevent static cling. Other times, I use vinegar. Barbara in FL

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Dryer sheets also put mice off making a home in the attic. Seems that they don't like the smell either!!!

Janner France