Blankets?

[billconner]

ChatGPT diesnt knoe. From HBC heritage: Like ppine said but to dry, don't wring it. Spread it out on towels and press or blot the water out.

 

[Bob B.]

I have washed in machine on gentle cycle with baby shampoo, easier on fibers than anything else. Spin dry, lay out on driveway or garage floor until dry, turning blanket over every couple hours.

 

[Gamma1214]

...lay out on driveway or garage floor until dry, turning blanket over every couple hours.

"every couple of hours"?!... That seems like a really high-maintenance blanket! You can't even line dry?

Hoping this is not too much of a thread detour but how can it possibly be worth that kind of attention every time it gets washed? (or is it more of a "trail trash", thru-hiker kinda thing where you just let it get really funky and you envision it crawling away before you wash at the end of the season)?

 

[Odyssey]

Our (high %) wool blankets don't require much care seeing as we are careful with them. Much like any gear item we don't kick them across the portage nor drag them thru the bog. Like our sleeping bags, the blankets may be hung out on a rope or bush from time to time if we want to air them. She likes to wrap herself in one in front of the fire on chilly nights under the stars otherwise they stay indoors in the tent. We don't go to bed smelling funky, otherwise those tent walls start to close in and you wake up thinking you've camped out in your teenagers' closet. Simple daily hygiene is easy even if the lake is too frigid for a swim. My wife does wash the blankets but that's infrequent and only when necessary. We have a wool setting on our washing machine; rinse, spin and hang to dry over a clothesline (no pegs) indoors or out depending on the season and weather.
Wool is worth "the effort". Wool is actually a fairly tough, durable, sustainable, natural fibre well suited to tripping. That's only my opinion.

 

[Bob B.]

Hanging it steches the blanket - makes it longer and thinner. It is dry in about 2 hours, but I want it bone dry. I also almost never wash my blankets. I give a good shake out now and then - some blankets almost 20 years old, slept on the timber ground a kazillion times - maybe washed 2 times.

Bob.

 

[ppine]

Pendleton blankets are worth owning. I have 3, and all were given to me. I really like the Pendleton Yakima Camp Blanket. They are softer now with a little nylon in them. I sleep with it at home often on top of the sheets. I use light sleeping bags in the house in winter.

 

[TrailBlaser]

I bring a wool blanket to use in my hammock (along with a top quilt) on early spring and late fall trips.