When is yarn too old?
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Knitting and other yarn carfts - Yarn making & use: spin, dye, knit, weave etc. 

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When is yarn too old? oletaweber 04-11-2008
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Posted by on April 11, 2008, 3:36 pm
There's some yarn in a storage locker (one of those shed-row-store-it-
yourself places) that I would love to use because most of these are no
longer manufactured. However, since it might be 15+ years old and
under questionable storage conditions, is it able to be salvaged? It
contains skeins with a variety of fibers from mohair to silk to wools
and many blends. What can I do to make sure I am not dragging bugs or
worse (spiders) into my house??? I have heard of freezing yarn and
even one extreme example of submerging the yarn in water mixed with
bug killer for a day or two. I am talking about a HUGE stash of
hundreds of skeins of gorgeous yarn so I am willing to make a large
effort to salvage them. Any thoughts or experiences with this
problem? All input would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!!

Posted by Georgia on April 11, 2008, 6:00 pm
If the stash is that huge, maybe you could select some skeins of different
fibers, and seal each one up separately in an air-tight container (e.g., a
ziplock bag) and see if anything is crawling around inside after a week.
After that, you might check the yarn to see if moth larvae have been there
and left (damage most likely on the outer layers of the skein I would
think)--very frustrating to start to knit with something, and then discover
that the yarn breaks every 10 feet or so, because it has moth holes in it!

Georgia

> There's some yarn in a storage locker (one of those shed-row-store-it-
> yourself places) that I would love to use because most of these are no
> longer manufactured. However, since it might be 15+ years old and
> under questionable storage conditions, is it able to be salvaged? It
> contains skeins with a variety of fibers from mohair to silk to wools
> and many blends. What can I do to make sure I am not dragging bugs or
> worse (spiders) into my house??? I have heard of freezing yarn and
> even one extreme example of submerging the yarn in water mixed with
> bug killer for a day or two. I am talking about a HUGE stash of
> hundreds of skeins of gorgeous yarn so I am willing to make a large
> effort to salvage them. Any thoughts or experiences with this
> problem? All input would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!!



Posted by Richard Eney on April 12, 2008, 12:11 am
In article
>There's some yarn in a storage locker (one of those shed-row-store-it-
>yourself places) that I would love to use because most of these are no
>longer manufactured. However, since it might be 15+ years old and
>under questionable storage conditions, is it able to be salvaged?

Age alone should not be a problem. Yarn that has been knitted into
sweaters has lasted 40 years and more, yarn that was knitted in
the twelfth century and buried for centuries was still (mostly) yarn
in the 21st century... if it's wool and seems dry and fragile, steam
it - the moisture will strengthen it again.

>It contains skeins with a variety of fibers from mohair to silk
>to wools and many blends. What can I do to make sure I am not
>dragging bugs or worse (spiders) into my house??? I have heard
>of freezing yarn and even one extreme example of submerging the
>yarn in water mixed with bug killer for a day or two.
>I am talking about a HUGE stash of hundreds of skeins of gorgeous
>yarn so I am willing to make a large effort to salvage them.
>Any thoughts or experiences with this problem? All input would
>be greatly appreciated! Thanks!!

Fortunately the Ziploc people are making absolutely huge Ziploc
backs now, so you can bag up the entire stash and then work on
one bagful at a time, or even one skein, transferring one at
a time into a smaller Ziploc bag. Or you could get a large
supply of the gallon-sized bags and bag the entire stash
separately to begin with. But if you have limited time to get
the stash out of the locker, the big Ziploc bags are the way
to go - you can just load the yarn directly into them and use
the bags to carry them home.

The freezer/microwave method seems pretty secure. Freeze the yarn
for several days, thaw it (in a sealed bag) for three days to trick
any eggs into hatching, then microwave each skein separately for
10 seconds. You can then repeat the cycle if you want to. (The
Yarn Harlot repeats the cycle three times; she also unballs the
yarn into skeins and vacuums them.)

I've used freeze/microwave to treat yarn I bought at the thrift
shop just to be sure, and then kept it in the Ziploc bag anyway,
for added security. I have clear plastic boxes (Sterilite, mostly)
that hold those slippery Ziploc bags and stack neatly. I have
the stash pretty well sorted by type - a box for sock yarns,
a box or two for worsted weight, and so on.

=Tamar

Posted by Mary Fisher on April 13, 2008, 6:25 am


...
>
> Age alone should not be a problem. Yarn that has been knitted into
> sweaters has lasted 40 years and more, yarn that was knitted in
> the twelfth century and buried for centuries was still (mostly) yarn
> in the 21st century...

Yes ...

> if it's wool and seems dry and fragile, steam
> it - the moisture will strengthen it again.

Oh, never thought about that, thanks.
>
...
>
> The freezer/microwave method seems pretty secure. Freeze the yarn
> for several days, thaw it (in a sealed bag) for three days to trick
> any eggs into hatching, then microwave each skein separately for
> 10 seconds. You can then repeat the cycle if you want to. (The
> Yarn Harlot repeats the cycle three times; she also unballs the
> yarn into skeins and vacuums them.)

Never thought about microwaving either. Mind you, I've only had a microwave
for a few weeks :-)

Thanks for that idea too.I've frozen yarn and fleece and it works but the
microwave could be a double security.

Mary




Posted by Mystified One on April 13, 2008, 7:39 pm
I'd be careful with the microwave.

I'm sure it's fairly safe for organic materials, but synthetics could cause
a fire.

Reminds me of a story I heard about a lady who heard she could combat a
yeast infection in her panties by zapping them in the microwave (in addition
to medical treatments, blah blah...

She did it with a nylon pair and set the house on fire. Worst part was
explaining it to the fire department!

>
>
> ...
>>
>> Age alone should not be a problem. Yarn that has been knitted into
>> sweaters has lasted 40 years and more, yarn that was knitted in
>> the twelfth century and buried for centuries was still (mostly) yarn
>> in the 21st century...
>
> Yes ...
>
>> if it's wool and seems dry and fragile, steam
>> it - the moisture will strengthen it again.
>
> Oh, never thought about that, thanks.
>>
> ...
>>
>> The freezer/microwave method seems pretty secure. Freeze the yarn
>> for several days, thaw it (in a sealed bag) for three days to trick
>> any eggs into hatching, then microwave each skein separately for
>> 10 seconds. You can then repeat the cycle if you want to. (The
>> Yarn Harlot repeats the cycle three times; she also unballs the
>> yarn into skeins and vacuums them.)
>
> Never thought about microwaving either. Mind you, I've only had a
> microwave for a few weeks :-)
>
> Thanks for that idea too.I've frozen yarn and fleece and it works but the
> microwave could be a double security.
>
> Mary
>
>
>


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