Baa Baa Wet Sheep?

August 8, 2009 5:09 PM

Sheep get rained on all the time, so I can launder this sheepskin rug, right? How do you launder yours?

We inherited a sheepskin rug from a relative who is moving house.

I don't know very much about it and even less about sheep. It's white and semi-fluffy, semi-matted on one side, and white suede(?) on the other side. It's all one piece and sort of... sheep... shaped, in that I can tell where the skin was cut from the head, legs and tail.

As it is now being used as a dog bed (for an ecstatic dog who is in love with her new friend, the sheep) I would like to launder this object. We have laundered previous, inferior, synthetic dog beds about once a month.

The interpipes seem to have various, conflicting instructions for care of these things, so I would like to know how you launder yours. I am most interested in preserving its thickness for the comfort of the hound, and less concerned with its fluffiness or indeed, whiteness.

My boxer thanks you.

posted by DarlingBri to home & garden (10 comments total)

I just chuck ours in the washing machine on a cool wash and then air dry. WHen it's dry I rub over it with my hand to make it all fluffy again.

Going on a year now doing that with no problems and a messy baby.
posted by gomichild at 5:29 PM on August 8

If gomichild washes one with no problems, I guess it's okay (I don't have a sheepskin rug and have never washed one) - but wanted to add that it's probably not getting wet that would damage it, since like you say, sheep get wet in nature, but the agitation of washing that could hurt the rug.
posted by LolaGeek at 6:25 PM on August 8

I wash mine the same way gomichild does it, and haven't had any problems. Mine lives on a rocking chair frequented by cats, and has been vomited on a few times; those I spot-cleaned with warm soapy water before putting it in the washing machine.

Don't worry too much about washing it! The worst thing that could happen is the wool locks will felt together a bit, and that won't interfere with its thickness and comfiness as a dog bed.
posted by bewilderbeast at 6:36 PM on August 8

Is it like this? There are washing instructions in this link, if you are really concerned about it. Otherwise I would just go with gomichild's suggestion.
posted by purpletangerine at 6:48 PM on August 8

Well, I'm a knitter and the way I wash my woolen knits is with a wool wash like Eucalan. It's no rinse, so you just dunk the rug in and let it soak -- then you could spin out the water using the spin cycle on your washing machine. You can find it or other wool washes at any yarn store.
posted by pised at 8:42 PM on August 8

Sheep get rained on, but their skin also produces lanolin.
posted by box at 10:08 PM on August 8

Sheep skin is still alive when it's on the creature;I would have the rug professionally cleaned so as not to damage the leather.
posted by brujita at 11:13 PM on August 8

Great, thank you! :)
posted by DarlingBri at 1:31 AM on August 9

I put a sheepskin in the washing machine once (also was the dog's bed). It disintegrated in the machine, and came out in pieces. The skin just didn't hold together.
posted by girlgeeknz at 1:44 AM on August 9

I've washed my sheepskin rug a few times. I use a wool cycle in the machine. It maybe shrank very slightly the first time, and the skin part doesn't feel quite so supple as it did when i first got it, but it washes well. Just make sure you dry it properly. I find it does shed some fibre after wasking, not a huge amount but some, so while it's still on the line but dry i give it a bit of a brush to get riod of the loose fibres.
posted by kumonoi at 2:08 AM on August 9