Freezing woolen things: how and why is this necessary, why does such a hacking not work?

Freezing woolen things is not a new trend. Even our mothers and grandmothers tried in this way to make clothes less prickly. However, in the XXI century there is no longer any reason to consider this method effective and send sweaters to the freezer.

The effect of frost on wool

It is immediately necessary to focus on the fact that from the point of view of physics, influencing the stitching of woolen threads with the help of frost is a very real and feasible task. However, the effect of this procedure will not be as expected. To understand why this is so, you should know what the wool really is.

So, wool is almost the same as human hair. The structure of the hair integument of humans and animals is almost the same:

• The core (i.e. inner) layer Are cells filled with air.
• Cortex (cortical layer) - forms the body of the hair. It depends on the cortex whether the hair will be porous or dense, thin or coarse, light or dark.
• Scaly (outer) layer - as the name implies, it consists of many tiny scales. The stronger they are adjacent to each other, the more hair is smooth and shiny. If the scales “puff,” the hair will be tough, unpleasant to the touch, and begin to fall off.

However, not all hair (hair) looks the same. Depending on the ratio in which the above mentioned components are present, the hair cover is of four types:

• Fluff. It is very soft and does not prick at all. He has no core layer.
• Transitional hair. It feels tougher than fluff and seems thicker. He has a core layer, but not everywhere, but only in places. Prickly practically never happens.
• Ost. Coarse and hard hair with a thick core layer. Threads made from it, prickly noticeably.
• Dead hair. Very thick, brittle, has a rough structure. The core layer occupies more than half the diameter. If such wool was used when spinning threads, the product will be very uncomfortable to wear.

And now let's move on to the main question - how does frost affect wool? And the answer will be simple: while it is dry - no way. This can be confirmed, for example, by polar polar bears - their fur coats calmly withstand temperatures down to -50 ° C and below.

The situation is different with wet coat. When moisture penetrates the hair, it fills the space between the scaly layer and the cortex, and is also partially absorbed into the cortex. Further, under the influence of cold, the water expands (this property is known to everyone who did not skip physics at school or tried to freeze water in bottles filled to the very neck). With the expansion of water, the hair structure is broken - in other words, the hair is “cracking at the seams”. The first time, of course, it will not break, but if wetting with subsequent freezing is repeated several times, then breaks can not be avoided.

As we found out earlier, the most prickly are coarse and coarse varieties of hair. Just for the reason that their ends, knocked out of the thread, do not have sufficient plasticity to change the trajectory of contact with human skin. They stick into the skin, causing discomfort. What will happen to such hairs after freezing in wet form, and even repeated? That's right, they will break, which means that there will be even more sharp ends. Accordingly, the thing will prick even more.

How and where to freeze things from wool?

If, after the above facts, the reader still intends to put his sweater or scarf to the test of low temperatures, he will have only three options:

• Put the item in liquid nitrogen. In an ordinary apartment or house, this is hardly possible, but the staff of some laboratories may well use this method.
• Take the item to the balcony. To do this, have to wait for the winter with crackling frosts.
• Put the thing in the freezer. An ordinary household refrigerator can provide from -18 to -25 ° С at any time of the year and in any climate.

Freehack inventors insistently argue that before sending woolen cloth or threads to the realm of subzero temperatures, they need to be soaked with water. Therefore, there is a risk that the wet thing will freeze to the walls of the freezer, packages of dumplings or a container with borsch stock for future use. To avoid this, it will have to be put in a plastic bag.

After the thing turns into a briquette of ice, it is removed, thawed in a basin and washed as usual.

What things can be frozen?

You can freeze any things that absorb water and whose dimensions allow you to put them where the temperature is below zero. But, bearing in mind that freezing woolen things does not save them from barbs, we will try to find at least some practical meaning of this procedure.

And there is such a sense. It appears in the case when a chewing gum was glued to a product made of wool by accident or by make-believe. Scrape it so that no trace remains on the fabric or thread, so far no one has managed. But under the influence of frost, it, being nothing more than a piece of rubber, becomes hard, and then crack. So freezing is a great way to remove chewing gum from a sweater, hat, scarf, dress, and even coat. The only caveat - before placing in the freezer, you do not need to wet your clothes.

Pros and cons of the procedure

Neither pronounced advantages, nor the same disadvantages of freezing things from wool are present. After being in the cold, the clothes will not stretch or decrease in size, will not tear and will not become bulletproof. And even more so, its property such as pricklyness will not disappear.

Some people claim that freezing did help them make the thing less scratchy. To trust such reviews or not, everyone decides for himself, but there is no scientific evidence for this, except, perhaps, the tendency of the human psyche to self-hypnosis.

Since freezing does not solve the problem of stabbing, in conclusion we will talk about how to make clothes more comfortable to wear. To soften the hairs and make them more plastic, the same means that are used for human hair are suitable - for example, you can wash a sweater or scarf with shampoo for dry hair or rinse a thing with water using a normal powder with the addition of a balm for curly hair. If there is a lot of woolen clothes, it is worth buying special gel and conditioner for washing such products - they are suitable for use in a washing machine.