Washing Merino Wool

Merino wool is super soft and easy to care for. If you follow our advice, the wool fibres in your merino wool garment will retain their natural softness and structure and remain resilient even after years of use.

Refresh and reuse

Merino wool is naturally antimicrobial, antifungal, odour and stain-resistant, requiring less frequent washing than other types of fibres. We recommend extending the time between washes by simply refreshing your garments in the following way: After use, ensure the garment is dry from perspiration or dampness, then hang it up to air allowing odours to evaporate. Your garment is now ready to reuse.

Refreshing your merino wool garments in this way will benefit the environment as well as your wallet, by reducing energy usage and water consumption.

Washing Instructions

• All our merino wool products are machine washable. Always choose the wool (or delicate) setting on your washing machine. These machine cycles are as gentle, if not gentler, than washing merino wool garments by hand

• Use non-biological wool detergent free from enzymes and bleach. If you can, choose an eco-labelled detergent to reduce harm to the environment

• Use half the recommended dose of detergent suggested on the bottle. This will ensure that all the detergent gets rinsed out in the course of the washing cycle. Residual detergent impairs the technical performance of garments. Check if you have soft or hard water in your area -  as a rule, soft water requires less detergent than hard water

• None of Brynje’s products necessitates the use of fabric softeners. Fabric softener can damage the technical properties of garments as well as being an unnecessary expense that releases pollutants into the natural water cycle

• Don’t overfill the washing machine

• Merino wool fabrics do not tolerate chlorine and must not be left to soak in water for any length of time

• Avoid tumble drying merino wool garments. Instead, use a high spin count on your washing machine to remove moisture before hanging up to dry. This will speed up the drying process

If your merino wool garment loses its shape, it could be due to the use of the wrong detergent or over washing of the garment. If garments are hung up on clothes hangers or drying racks while dripping wet, they will quickly pull out of shape.

Boiling and shrinkage

It is misconception that wool cannot be boiled, and that this will result in garment shrinkage. Wool can be boiled should this be required.

For shrinkage to occur, the wool fabric must be exposed to both heat and friction. The most common cause of wool shrinkage is the use of high friction washing cycles such as the daily or economy settings. If your merino wool garment has shrunk, try to gently pull it back into shape. 

Merino wool mesh shrinks very easily, and it is crucial to always wash these mesh garments on the wool or delicate setting!