# S: 7 ways to finish yarn



## wordancer (May 4, 2011)

From, yarn.i.tec.ture, A knitter's guide to spinning, by Jillian Moreno.

There is a whole chapter with a lot of info and pictures that shows the different finishs effec on different fibers and the actual knitted fabric. So briefly the different ways to finish yarns are.

1. Steaming:
Pro: Quick, almost no drying time.
Con: Not much fiber/twist movement as there would be when submerged in hot, soapy water.
Good for: Tender yarns, art yarns, or just need a light finish.

2. Soaking
Pro: Easy, hot water relaxes the yarn and distributes twist somewhat.
Con: Long dry time, doesn't redistribute the twist much.
Good for: low twist yarns

3. Snapping: after washing roll in towel, before hanging up, snap skein several times around between your hands.
Pro: excellent redistribution of twist
Con: can break low twist yarns
Good for: almost all fibers

4. Centripetal force. Before hanging skein to dry take outside twirl it above head. Do several times moving hand to differt areas of skein.
Pro: cuts down on drying times, fun
Con: need nice weather
Good for: medium to strong or fine fibers spun or plied for durability.

5. Whacking. Before hanging, whack the skein against counter, floor table or deck.do several times moving hand to different areas of the skeins.
Pro: redistributes the twist a lot, fun
Con: can make yarns fuzzy or start to pill
Good for: unevenly plied yarns, yarns that want to be fuzzy

6. Fulling. Use bowls of hot and ice water. Alternate between each, a few minutes each, barely squeezing the water out each move, but not agitating.
Pro: stabilizes singles yarn, redistributes twist
Con: not for superwash
Good for: singles destined to be knit as is

7. Menacing: start same as fulling, but take a small plunger to it. Don't take to a hard stiff felt, but up to firm.
Pro: increases the durability of a yarn
Con: only works for wool and wool blends, can't undo, shortens yardage.
Good for. Downy undercoat finders, wool and wool bkends


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## Reba1 (Feb 5, 2012)

Very interesting, thank you for posting this.


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## mama879 (Jan 27, 2011)

Very cool thank you can't wait to try them all. Thanks for posting.


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## Cdambro (Dec 30, 2013)

Great information. Thanks.


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## IndigoSpinner (Jul 9, 2011)

That's brilliant, and I hadn't thought of some of this.

During the Middle Ages, they used a variation of the centripetal force version of finishing.

It's called wuzzing wool. Have you ever seen baskets made with solid sides and an openwork bottom? They still make them today. They're for wuzzing. When people built stone walls, they'd include a wuzzing hole.

You put your hank (or wet wool) into a wuzzing basket, hang it over a long stick and insert one end of the stick into a wuzzing hole and use a circular motion to swing the basket around the stick.

https://books.google.com/books?id=sq33sR3WCrQC&pg=PA15&lpg=PA15&dq=wuzzing+wool&source=bl&ots=4HcN23zBJP&sig=bwg5ukkdGicw-zQfiYVNgghfHn4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi7w-eo2cHQAhVIYyYKHX0pBEk4ChDoAQgjMAI#v=onepage&q=wuzzing%20wool&f=false

But there's an easy, modern-day way to do this by using a salad spinner! Get the biggest one you can find, and check for the method to make it spin to pick one that will hurt your hands the least. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm thinking about the OXO Good Grips one.

This works on just-washed fleece, hanks, and finished garments that are small enough to go in.


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## JuneB (Oct 10, 2014)

Interesting thanks for sharing


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## JuneB (Oct 10, 2014)

Interesting thanks for sharing


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## wordancer (May 4, 2011)

That us great link, thanks


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## mama879 (Jan 27, 2011)

Wow even more info. Thanks Indigospinner


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## Silverpeep (May 3, 2016)

Wow, had no idea of these techniques. I do the snapping one.


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## desireeross (Jun 2, 2013)

Thank you, I've got this book but not read it In detail. I do steps 2, 3, 4, 5


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## wordancer (May 4, 2011)

Pushing this up for those who haven't seen this info
????????????????


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## Alpaca Farmer (Jan 19, 2011)

I just got this book. It is so interesting and informative.


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## raedean (Apr 25, 2011)

so my goodness.thank u so much.


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## wordancer (May 4, 2011)

For those who haven't seen this. 
So much good information that has been posted in the past.
I encourage you all to do some browsing.


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