I have been trying to put articles on this site in the order of start to finish when weaving, but wet finishing is a question that comes up from new weavers quite often, so, therefore, I am going to skip all the way to the end of the weaving process and share what I do to wet finish my weaving.
Wet finishing is the process of turning what is basically a woven net coming off the loom into cloth. One very wise weaver who is not identified - and maybe after I say that, this weave will comment here "That was me!" (not "me") - that "IT IS NOT CLOTH UNTIL IT IS WET FINISHED". Wet finishing goes all the way back in the history of weaving which is a Very, Very long time. Essentially, wet finishing is getting the finished weave soaking wet. When the weaving is wet finished, the fibers and yarn relaxes. The weave comes together. Things in your weaving that looked not as good as you expected while it was on the loom sometimes correct themselves and look fine. The spaces that you saw between the warp and weft close up - depending on the weave. The size of the weaving changes - generally a little smaller - even for fibers like acrylic that don't shrink. The cloth is said to "full". It becomes cloth.
Some say that acrylic is not effected at all by wet finishing and I have to disagree. I use a lot of acrylic yarns and there is a big difference for the better between the weave coming off the loom and the after it is wet finished. It does full. It does change size slightly. The yarn does relax. The weave does come together.
There are many methods to this. The current master of wet finishing is Laura Fry, who has written a book and has a video class available on her methods. This is just a preview of that class. I have watched several videos, collected a lot of forum and weaving group comments about how to wet finish and I have my own variation of what I have learned. I know that others have different methods.
One can wet finish by hand or use a washing machine. I have tried using the washing machine with various fiber weaves and I infrequently now use the washing machine and for just about everything - unless I get foolishly courageous and decide to "take one more chance" - I HAND WET FINISH.
I just started writing about experiences using the washer/dryer to wet finish and decided that I would not confuse the readers and just stick to a method that will work - wet finishing by hand.
This is what I do to wet finish. Again, others do it differently. This has worked for me.
1. Fill a plastic tub that fits in your sink with enough water to completely cover the weaving.
A dish washing basin works well - and comes in a large and small size. I found one in Walmart - they are not hard to find. To use hot, warm, or cold water depends on your fiber and what you want to happen with the yarn and the weave. Generally you go by the label that came with the yarn with its washing/care instructions. Natural fibers that shrink such as wool, cotton, and all the rest, if you use warm to hot water the fiber will shrink. Sometimes you want the fiber to shrink. If this weaving is going to be washed by the owner, and you do not shrink it, chances are that when it is washed later it will shrink. Most weaving calculators (like ours) take shrinkage into account when determining the warp and weft amounts and lengths. You may decide that you don't want it to shrink at this point and then use cold water. Some natural fibers, such as wool, felt. Think of felt that you buy for crafts and that is what your weave will look like after it is felted. If you use hot water and when the cloth is in the water you agitate it, the fibers will felt. Agitate it a lot and it felts a lot. Some projects call for felting as an effect in the finished project. How do you agitate the fibers? I have a joking comment to make but I will refrain. Move your hand around quickly through the water and move the weaving around a great deal with a lot of motion. This only happens with fibers that felt. For a man-made fiber like acrylic, you can use hot, warm, or cold water and it will not make any difference. I just use warm water for my comfort with my hands in the water when I use acrylic yarn.
2. I add a capful of baby shampoo to the water. If you put this in while the water is going in, it will mix itself.
Some use other soaps. Some use nothing. Some use special soaps made for yarns that is sold in knitting and weaving stores. When I started I used just regular clothes washing Tide. I then decided that if baby shampoo was good for baby's hair it has to be good for any fiber that I am going to wet finish. A big bottle of the non-name brand is just as good as the name brand, more expensive bottle.
3. If your weaving is not already in the basin, put your weaving in the basin. Obviously, if what you have woven will not fit in this basin or in the sink, get a larger basin and use that out of the sink. I have heard that some use the bathtub.
4. This is when the motion you want to use for the yarn you are using comes in - as I described in Number 1 above. Swirl the yarn around in the water. (If agitating - agitate now.) Just move the yarn around so that it all gets wet and all of it comes into contact with the soapy water. The yarn will absorb the water fairly quickly. I am not that concerned with washing the yarn. Some do say that the yarn should be washed. Other than a hand-spun, homemade yarn direct from the animal, I don't see the yarns I am using being that dirty that they need to be washed for a prolonged period of time. Longer does not hurt. I do this step for about FIVE minutes. If you are felting, the time will be longer to the point of felting you desire. If you are shrinking you would also increase the time.
5. Take the cloth into both hands and pick it up from the basin. Let it drip out either into the basin or the sink from your hands - just enough so that when you put it down on the side for a moment while you prep for the next step it does not flood the counter. I put down a towel to put it on. Put the cloth down.
6. Empty the basin into the sink. Turn on the faucet and rinse out the basin to get all of the soap out and when all you see is clean water and no suds in the basin, turn off the faucet. Put the basin back into the sink and fill it with clean water - no special temperature - cool is fine.
7. Put the cloth into the basin and swirl it around for its FIRST rinse. Again, not long. Just a few minutes is fine.
8. Repeat steps FIVE THROUGH SEVEN for the second rinse.
At this point the water should be clear and stay clear.
9. Repeat Step FIVE TO SIX, but now I add on partial cap of Downy Fabric Softener. Have it mix into the water and mix it a little by hand. PUT THE CLOTH INTO THE FABRIC SOFTENER WATER. Swirl it around to get the cloth submersed into the water mix. Set a timer for 20 to 30 minutes and go take a break.
10. During your break take two large bath towels or "bath sheets". I use white to not transfer any dye in the towel to the weaving. Put the towels flat on a table - you want the towels to be longer than the total length of your weaving - so if it is a short weave then one towel may do it. If it is very long you may need a very long table and more than two towels. Tables are just so long so hang it off the ends of the length of the table - cover the floor for drips.
11. When you come back after the timer goes off, remove the cloth from the water. Allow it to drip in your hands. I gently squeeze to get the bulk of the water out but do not wring it out. Carry it over to the towels you set up in Number 10.
12. Lay the weaving on the towel FLAT. If the towel is wider than the weaving - and with a scarf it often is, place the woven cloth toward one edge and fold the other edge of the towel completely over the cloth. If there is not enough towel to fold fully over the weaving, then don't fold it. Start at one end and roll the cloth up into the towel, trying to avoid having any of the cloth wrinkle of fold on itself. Roll it up so that you are left with a long roll of weaving stuffed towel - like a cake roll. I then squeeze the towel gently to absorb some of the water inside. The towel is then set aside and you set a timer again for twenty to thirty minutes. DO NOT let the weaving stay in the towel for more than 30 minutes - when I have, it comes out wrinkled.
13. When it is time, take the towel roll over to a table that is empty. You are going to now unroll the towel and get the weaving out and lay it flat on the table. This is for the final dry. It often comes out of the towel just damp. I have not had it come out still soaking. Make sure the weaving is laying out nice and flat and leave it there until dry. You may wish to come back as the top seems to be dry and turn it over to expose the bottom to the air more.
14. I have come up with a way to make the drying time a little quicker and if not quicker there is no need to turn the weaving to expose the bottom to air. I went to a home store - Home Depot - and bought a six foot long and 16" wide plastic coated wire shelf used for closets. Also buy a package of the little plastic tips used on the sharp ends of the wire where the shelf was cut at the factory or the store to length. I place this up on two plastic "milk" crates. I found some small ones of these in Walmart during school supply season that were a dollar each and I have two spare if I need to get a second 16" wide wire shelf for weaving wider than 16". When I use only one shelf I stack two for each end just because I have them. Put the crates on the table. Put the wire shelf up on the crates - balance it so that it is sturdy. Lay the weaving on top of the shelf - let the fringe hang down below. You are now drying both sides at once.
15. How long does it take to dry? This depends on the air it is drying in. In the winter with the heat on and the air being drier, it can be totally dry in four or five hours. In the summer with the humidity it can take over night to into the next day to be totally dry.
IMPORTANT NOTES -
FRINGE
There is always a question about finishing your fringe before or after wet finishing. I have done both. Many say always finish the fringe before you wet finish. I know that I am gentle with the fringe and the cloth as I wet finish by HAND - and make sure the fringe does not get tangled - which it wants to do. Some yarns will un-ply at unfinished ends during wet finishing. Cotton is one that will often do this. Finish your cotton fringe always before wet finishing or at the very least tie a knot in the bottom of every fringe if you plan to just have plain fringe or will take care of fringe finishing later. If in doubt, finish the fringe before you wet finish.
FIXING UNINTENDED FLOATS
Examine your weaving before wet finishing for any mistakes made - floats - warp or weft threads not caught into the weave and stick up across the weaving where it should have been woven in. I am not going to explain the process to fix these now but FIX ALL FLOATS BEFORE WET FINISHING.
CUTTING WEFT TAILS
As you changed colors of weft or ended one shuttle or bobbin and started the next, you left weft tails hanging down from the weave. DO NOT CUT THESE OFF UNTIL AFTER YOU HAVE WET FINISHED THE CLOTH. Once the cloth is completely dry cut those off close to the cloth but always making sure you don't cut the weaving at the surface.
ASSEMBLING
If you are joining two pieces of weaving together, do that before wet finishing.
HEMMING TO NOT HAVE FRINGE
If you are going to cut off the fringe and hem your cloth so there is no fringe on an end, DO THAT BEFORE WET FINISHING. There is a specific method to do this - I am not including that at this time in this article.
I HAVE HEARD...
Have you heard about putting your weaving on the floor of the shower and turning on the water and walking all over it? Like I said early on, there are all different ways that people wet finish. (If not everything else , do take off your shoes before doing this.) 😃
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Don't be put off by all of the steps. It does not take that long to wet finish your weaving. There is more "wait" time than there is active time doing it.
PART TWO - WET FINISHING BY MACHINE
