Wool by its very nature can be worrying to clean. Small stains can be sponged with mild detergent, taking care not to get too wet, then lightly sponged with lukewarm water.

Many washing machines do have a wool setting on them and you can achieve some great result.

The drying of wool is where you can run into problems. Do Not hang the item on the washing line as it will stretch. Do Not put it in the tumble dryer as it will shrink. Instead lay the garment out on a clean flat surface to air dry.

It is not advisable to wash woolen blankets as they weigh very heavy when wet.

If you have had an accident and your wool garment has become shrunk then read on. An old tip that I have used to resize items accidentally shrunk is to put them in a sink filled with lukewarm water and about a 1/3 cup of hair conditioner. The cheap kind actually works better than an expensive one. They used to call it "creme rinse" for your hair. It penetrates and relaxes the fibers. Let it soak and gently pull the item into shape then place to dry on a towel on a flat surface and periodically check and continue to resize as it dries.