well, this piece is already shrunk down. do it one more time and you're probably home free. washed and dryer-dried wood wool is he softest thing ever.
i had some scratchy army blankets and i washed them in hot water. i had nothing to lose, they were that bad. then i used fabric softener and into the dryer they went. did this 2x and went to town. wow! if they could fluff up then anything can. and they never shrunk? shrank? again.
so give it another go-round.