My mistake. I meant to ask if it was the washing machine - not the dryer. The only clothes I put in the dryer are pajamas, panties and socks. I wash all of my clothes in cold water. After I washed the black sweater, I used a dryer rack in the dining room. There's no vent in that room. After I washed the purple sweater, I hung it on a hanger in the guest bedroom. There is a vent in the guest bedroom, but it is not near where I hung up the purple sweater. I don't think it could be the drying process that caused problems with the purple sweater because the shrinkage was noticeable as soon as it came out of the washing machine. The next time I do laundry, I'll check to see if there's hot water getting fed into the washer. badgergrrl, this mostly happens with cotton blend clothes. Today's camisole is 95% cotton/5% spandex. The gray and black sweaters are 60% cotton/40% rayon. The purple sweater is 100% cotton. Strangely enough, I have a pink blouse (some kind of rayon blend) that shrunk after I hand-washed it. That's why I was starting to think that I am having water problems. I washed that one in Woolite, which I always thought was gentle. Thanks for your advice, and thanks for listening to my rant!

we could not live without ours. we are on our 4th one in more than 12 years or so. i don't keep up anymore, i just know that my DH tells ,me to buy another one when we wear one out. we find that anything we put in the freezer after vacuume sealing lasts as long as we need it to. we have never had anything go bad or not be fresh after taking it out of the freezer. i buy whole racks of steaks at sams. we slice them and vacuume seal them. when i take them out of the freezer, they are just as red as the day i put them in. they don't turn brown at all. ccoombs-there is a newer version that does allow for wet or moist foods. it is our latest one. i bought it about 9 months to a year ago. its the best and most sohpisticated model yet. i got it at bed bath and beyond. its a stainless steel model.

Definitely sounds like a soil and light issue. I had a very similar problem - my old place had a great spot for growing and plants did fantastic. Then when I moved I didn't realize how drastically different the conditions were and my succulents started dying slowly over a two year period (some faster). Recommend making your own soil mix with very low water retention for indoor growing in lower light. It's not that hard and there are many good options (perlite, gritty mix, etc.). If you stick with your current mix, it will be very difficult to manage watering properly. A brighter spot may be also helpful, but depends what you have available.

Elmer J Fudd (formerly S Whiplash) wrote: "Care labels are on garments for a reason, that's the best guide. My comment was generic rather than specific, lest someone think from the first comment that all wool items can be "washed". Dry clean only means just that." The labels are for recommendation. As for being there for a reason, well sometime, the reason isn't always justifiable in the care of the fabric. In other words, just because the label said to "dry clean only", it doesn't mean that it is the only way to clean the garment. Silk fabric is a good example of this. Every time, I see the "dry clean only" label on silk garments, I giggle. Think about it, what came first, silk fabric or the dry cleaning method? Silk is actually a pretty strong fiber. People in ancient time had mainly washed silk garments by hand and hung them to dry. I do the same. I put all my silk garments in the washer and use the gentle cycle. Then, I hang them up to dry. Once the garment is ironed, the shine of the silk comes right back. LOL, I think the reason silk (of Chinese origin) is labeled for dry cleaning is to help out all those dry cleaners that are mainly owned by the Asians :) Now back to wool, like someone already said it, wool is basically animal hair. Animals do get wet (from rain or whatever) but their hair remains well. Some things to remember when washing wool fiber is to use cold water and be gentle enough so it won't shrink and felt the fabric; unless, felting was meant to be done. Ah, I need to get back on my knitting. I've been wanting to make a wool felt hat.