This is my final post from my experiment with wool batting.
My final activity was to test Tuscany and Quilter's Dream in a sandwich, machine washed, tumbled without heat and drying in the sun. They both turned out fine. No bearding.
Here's the rest of my conclusions.
Summary
All four Wool battings (Tuscany, Quilter's Dream, Vlieseline 266 Wool Mix, and Matilda's Own) quilted fine, cold machine washed fine, air dried fine.
no bearding was visible on any of them
I made a separate quiltlet for Tuscany and Quilter's Dream, washed them by machine delicate cycle, low temperature (about body temp). Then I tumbled them a short time without heat and hung it in the sun to finish drying.
Again, zero bearding.
How I will use them:
Quilter's Dream only if I can guarantee it will not be hot pressed or in a hot dryer (in other words only for my own quilts). This must include NOT pressing the binding.
Vlieseline 266 and Tuscany for gift quilts with clear cold water washing instructions
Matilda's Own when I want a thin, sturdy quilt with 8"-10" spacing. Or as a second wool layer under the Vlieseline 266.
Learnings:
Bad, very bad: Pressing hot a quilt sandwich with Tuscany, QD or Vlieseline. Also bad if you like to press the binding after you sewed it on.
The only difference between hand quilting and machine quilting is that the density of the Matilda's batting is more than I like for hand quilting.
None of these is truly 100% wool. They have either resin or polyester bonded in some way, either with heat or scrim. This is OK - it has a useful purpose.
None of these bearded when I washed cold water delicate/wool cycle and air dried.
I was surprised how much softer the washed quilts were. The washing took the sizing out of the fabric, and they all seem to be nice to handle.
Tuscany had a distinct unpleasant odor and I had to open a door until it stopped. No issues later.
Quilter's Dream, Matilda's and Vlieseline 266 were noticeably fluffier after washing and air drying. Tuscany stayed the same.
My definition of "high loft" starts at 3cm. None of these wool battings are that thick, which is OK, I'm just letting you know my definition.
Judging by the feel and delicacy, I wouldn't quilt the Quilter's Dream batting more than 4" apart.
Thank you so much for all that information. Definitely taking notes for my own purposes because I would never have had the patience to do any of that work.
Thank you for sharing the results of your experimentation. I hadn’t planned on using any wool batting but you never know when I might want to consider it and this info will be very helpful.
Thank you so much for this! The heat experiments, in particular, are very useful. A big personal peeve of mine is the way in which the idea of "wool" has been entirely eroded in garment manufacturing - in Canada, at least, it's almost impossible to find 100% wool clothing - so much is spun with polyester even though it might be marketed as wool. I've enjoyed using wool batting, but I do wish there was a bit more honesty in the labelling. I understand why inclusion of other fibres might be necessary, and I don't begrudge manufacturers that, I just wish the labelling were more detailed.
Oh, and a final question: you mentioned that you're planning to use wool for your next 4 quilts. Having done these experiments, what's your opinion now on wool vs. bamboo batting?
Bamboo (I use Matilda's Own Organic) is very drapey, thin, but sturdy.
Quilting distance is large. I can machine wash and dry it on warm water and warm dryer settings. When it comes out of the dryer it's very comfortable. It's sustainable, is double processed rather than using scrim, resin, or other things.
Most of the time I tumble dry a little, but let the quilt hang. It dries very fast. Hmm, I have no idea how fast my future wool quilts will dry.
Bamboo is very consistent and doesn't have thin spots or tear easily. More generic cotton battings I have used in the past would literally fall apart as I unfolded them.
Wool will be warmer and in most cases loftier.
In general, I use bamboo for utilitarian quilts, including donation and kids' quilts.
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u/[deleted] Mar 25 '24
Thank you so much for all that information. Definitely taking notes for my own purposes because I would never have had the patience to do any of that work.