Definitive ruling on Woolite please

[NukeMeSlowly]

Some say yea, others nay.

Is Woolite a good cleaner/detergent for handwashing wool and cashmere sweaters? If not, why not? If not, what do you recommend that is fairly readily available?

 

[amerikajinda]

I swear by it and use it often... highly recommended!

 

[VMan]

Yes I use it and am very pleased with the results. You can also get the kind designed for dark colors, supposidly to combat fading, though I have personally not tried this.

I have also heard you can use baby shampoo on fine knit goods as an alternative to Woolite.

 

[Get Smart]

+1 on Woolite and Woolite dark

 

[Arethusa]

If you need something gentler, there's always Nancy Boy.

 

[kitonbrioni]

Woolite works great on quality cashmere sweaters.

 

[alflauren]

I have never had a problem with Woolite, but a thread on the forum here clued me in to Forever New, which is a delicates/lingerie detergent. It also does a nice job on woolens, and seems to be a little easier to rinse.

 

[texas_jack]

Woolite is dishsoap.

 

[Pink22m]

I used to use Woolite, but after hearing some negative things about it, I switched to Forever New.

 

[j]

Originally Posted by texas_jack

Woolite is dishsoap.
I don't think so. It feels different, rinses differently, suds differently. I wouldn't use dishsoap on my clothes, it's quite harsh.

 

[tiecollector]

Love woolite. Just got some Woolite Dark this time around. Can't say if it is any better, I never really noticed fading with either though. I think drying is where the fading comes from. I hardly ever dry my clothes for more than a minute or so, if ever.

I just put some brand new dark brown BR dress chinos in the wash and dried them quite a bit just to see if they would shrink any before taking them to get hemmed. I feel like the dryer faded them ever so slightly. I wont put them in the dryer again.

The only dress shirt I have that has faded is an Alfani Macy's brand that I used Cheer on a couple of times. I actually bought PH paper and tested all the detergents that my mom had in her cupboard. I don't have a chart with me but I remember Woolite had the most neutral PH, as did the Arm and Hammer gentle stuff (Delicare, i think it is called, used this too with no problems). The other brands she had were at least +1 more basic on the PH scale. Don't quote me but I think the brands were Cheer, All, and Purex.

 

[Arethusa]

While Woolite is definitely the best of the mainstream detergents (Nancy Boy the best of the high end niche stuff, in my opinion), an Alfani shirt fading is likely just as much the fault of the shirt as it is whatever detergent used with it.

 

[tiecollector]

Originally Posted by Arethusa

While Woolite is definitely the best of the mainstream detergents (Nancy Boy the best of the high end niche stuff, in my opinion), an Alfani shirt fading is likely just as much the fault of the shirt as it is whatever detergent used with it.

Yeah Alfani isn't exactly the cream of the crop, but I have a black Alfani shirt that I have only used Woolite on that is still pretty black. On the other faded shirt, the blue and brown stripes have lost their vibrance. Most of my dress shirts are fairly pedestrian compared to the high quality seen on this forum, but they have held up well with proper care.

 

[pscolari]

I use/swear by Woolite regular and dark.

One negative comment I heard round these parts was Woolite deteriorates the elastic in garments. Can't find the thread, but I believe it was about 4 -5months ago. Never had experience with this problem myself.