A front loader won't give you the agitation, which is the most important part for felting. Heat will shrink the wool, but it's the agitation that interlocks the fibers to make felt. I tried a sample of knitted wool yarn in with my regular wash in my front loader to see what would happen, and it shrank a tiny bit but did not actually felt. I figured I'd have to make all the knitted bowls I had in mind, and then take them to laundromat or a friend's top loader.

If it only one small item you can do by hand in a pan of hot, soapy water and stir the daylights out of it yourself. Of course your arms may be exhausted by the time you're done requiring a sit down and a reward of chocolate.

The soap does have something to do with the felting. I make jackets and vests of the heavier pieces. So I have a lot of wool of varying thicknesses. I rarely cut them apart before I wash. Some pieces do not shrink at all so just toss them. I use the rib knit at bottom to make jellyroll type pincushions. All one color or use a different rib for each circle.

Another ?? What if I just want it for applique or say make a pocketbook with wool fabric and I buy some yardage or find a deal at a thrift shop like this thread is about can I just wash it in my front loader for that. I don't care about felting. Again Thanks in advance.

Wow! Sure learned a lot today about felting! This QB is the greatest! Thanks!

Ohhh, now I don't feel so guilty for the 4 tubs of wool that
I have waiting for projects !

Just a thought here...if you have a front loader, I think this might be the one time to go to the laundromat...one with top loaders. Ask around and see where one is that has good hot water. Their driers are usually way too hot, too, and would be perfect for shrinking the wet wool.

Our washer decided a year ago that it didn't want to work. We fiddled with it, and switched the water hoses around, and when I switched hot for cold, it started working. Hey...I never wash anything in hot, so who cared....my washer worked, and I didn't have to buy a new one. So nothing would be getting washed in hot here.