The 6 Best Laundry Detergents for Wool

Whether you’re a knitter, or crocheter, or you just like the feel of wool on your skin, one thing you know is that you can’t use regular laundry detergents with your wool garments. Wool is a sensitive fabric that breaks down easily when exposed to the strong chemicals and solvents in the detergents. You need a laundry detergent specifically for wool.

This review covers these 6 best laundry detergents for wool.

1. Best Overall: Perwoll for Wool & Delicates

2. Best for Color Protection: Miele Care Collection HE Wool Care

3. Best for Dark Clothes: Woolite Darks with EverCare Liquid Laundry Detergent

4. Best for Knitted Wool: KnitIQ No Rinse Delicate Wash Liquid Detergent

5. Best for Merino Wool: Grangers Merino Wool Wash

6. Best Value: Persil Laundry Detergent Liquid, Free and Unscented

How to Choose a Wool Detergent

In general, liquid detergents are recommended over powder detergents. You’re more likely to use too much detergent when it’s in powder form. Moreover, the powder could get lumpy and damage the fabric if it doesn’t dissolve quickly. Here are the main criteria when choosing a wool detergent.

• Mild: The wool detergent should be free of enzymes, bleach, fabric softeners, optical brighteners, or stain removers. These chemicals are too strong for wool and cause wear and tear.
• pH Neutral: The detergent should be pH neutral which minimizes the damage it could do to the wool. The more you wash wool, the more likely it will lose its structure and become loose. A pH-neutral detergent preserves the integrity of the wool garment.  
• Woolmark Logo: Wool detergents often will have the Woolmark logo on them. 

The 6 Best Laundry Detergents for Wool

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1. Best Overall: Perwoll for Wool & Delicates

You can use Perwoll either in the washer or hand-washing wool and delicate clothes such as silk, mohair, down, and cashmere. The mild detergent is gentle on the wool fabric and keeps its shape after washing. It also does a good job of preventing fuzz and fluff from piling on wool clothes inside of the washer. 

Perwoll works well both in cold and hot water. You don’t have to increase the water temperature in the washer to remove stains since that could stretch the wool garments and cause fuzz. The detergent performs deep cleaning of the wool fabric and removes any odors and stains.

2. Best for Color Protection: Miele Care Collection HE Wool Care

Wool detergents avoid using optical brighteners because these chemicals are too strong for delicate fabrics such as wool. However, Miele Care offers this detergent which is designed specifically to wash wool garments and also protect their colors, making them look brighter and richer after each wash. The wool detergent uses wheat protein to provide gentle care to the wool fabric to maintain its shape.

The concentrated detergent gives you 37 wash loads per 1.5-liter package. It works for different delicate fabrics besides wool and protects against matting. You can use it both for hand washing and HE washers.

3. Best for Dark Clothes: Woolite Darks with EverCare Liquid Laundry Detergent

Woolite is an established brand in the laundry detergent market. The company came up with a new formula to protect delicate wool clothes against damage, matting, piling, and fuzz build-up in the washer. Besides protecting the shape, structure, and integrity of the wool garment, the detergent also prevents fading of colors.

The aluminum-free Woolite is developed mainly for dark clothes. These are the types of wool clothes that tend to fade quickly. It removes the stains without damaging the fabric or impacting the colors and patterns on the wool clothes. Woolite doesn’t contain bleach, optical brighteners, or phosphates. You can use it only for machine washing.

4. Best for Knitted Wool: KnitIQ No Rinse Delicate Wash Liquid Detergent

If your wool garment is knitted, you have to be extra diligent when choosing the right wool detergent for this type of garment. Knitted and crocheted fabrics are more likely to unravel in the washer. So besides washing them separately, you also need a detergent like KnitIQ that is gentle on the fabric and structure of knitted wool. It keeps the knitted yarn and handmade wool crafts looking fuzzy and in good shape after washing.

KnitIQ is lanolin-enhanced to preserve the integrity of the stitches and softens the wool fabric to prevent fuzzing. It comes in a small spray bottle that gives you more control over how much detergent you dispense. The small bottle gives you 20 wash loads and comes with a secure cap that prevents leakage and waste. 

5. Best for Merino Wool: Grangers Merino Wool Wash

Wool detergents have to walk a fine line between removing stains and dirt without damaging the delicate wool texture. Merino wool is one of the finest and probably most expensive wool fabrics. The antibacterial Merino wool naturally repels water, and Grangers is designed specifically for this wool. Grangers does an excellent job removing dirt and neutralizing odors while preserving the wool. 

Grangers also contains a cedar extract that repels moths and protects the wool garment when you store it, and prolongs its lifespan. You can use it not just for Merino wool garments, but for all types of fine wool brands on the market. The spray bottle is easy to pack and store or take with you when you go hiking or on vacations.

6. Best Value: Persil Laundry Detergent Liquid, Free and Unscented

Persil brings our list of the best laundry detergents for wool to a close with a specialty product designed for wool and delicates. The scent-free and hypoallergenic detergent is for people with sensitive skin. It doesn’t include dyes either, which makes it safe to wash your wool garments. But just because it’s mild, that doesn’t mean that Persil won’t remove the tough stains. It strikes a good balance between cleaning and preserving the structure of the wool clothes.

The concentrated formula works just as well in cold water, making it ideal for the wool clothes that you worry might get stretched in warm water. The concentrated formula gives you good value for your money.

Next, you can check out my guide on why your wool clothes smell weird.