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Help a newbie with the care and feeding of wool clothing!

twblalock

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Well, I am getting sick of my cotton trousers for numerous reasons and I am about to buy some pairs of wool slacks for the first time. All of the ones I have seen are dry clean only, and I have a few questions:

Does dry cleaning shrink them? More than once?

How often should they be cleaned? Every time they are worn seems excessive. Any other way to clean them?

What are the appropriate wool weights for various temperatures? I live in the Bay Area, CA and it is pretty mild around here, and I want fabric weight that can be worn year-round.

These questions might seem stupid, but I honestly did search and didn't find anything. Help me out before I buy crap trousers and shrink them into high-waters!
tounge.gif
 

j

(stands for Jerk)
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Welcome to the forum.

Dry cleaning doesn't shrink them much, if at all. They should only be dry-cleaned when they are actually dirty. You can get by pretty well with brushing them and steaming them either with an iron or a steamer.

I will leave "wool weights" up to someone else. Suffice it to say the numbers you see in marketing are not very concretely descriptive of what you will want to invest in.
 

stach

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Gabardine is good for the South Bay.
 

kitonbrioni

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K&G has decent wool pants or try one of the near-by discount outlets. Banana Republic often puts their wool pants on sale.

Get a inexpensive wool pants (at a thrift store maybe) and try washing them in cold water with Woolite and use a steamer or iron to get the wrinkles out.

Most worsted wool pants should work well in the low humidity of CA.
http://whatareyouwearingtoday.blogspot.com/
 

dah328

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Originally Posted by twblalock
What are the appropriate wool weights for various temperatures? I live in the Bay Area, CA and it is pretty mild around here, and I want fabric weight that can be worn year-round.
The breathability/porosity of the weave is more important than the weight. Try to find wools with a relatively open weave.

dan
 

alflauren

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I clean my wool trousers just about never. Don't worry about them shrinking from the dry cleaning - worry about them becoming duller and less enjoyable to wear. I highly recommend getting both a lint roller and a good brush made for brushing wool trousers. That will go a long way in keeping the dust and dirt off.
 

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