Perhaps this has happened to you... You accidentally washed your favorite high alpaca% alpaca socks, then tossed them in the dryer for a nice long HOT dry, only to find them 1-3 sizes SMALLER when you took them out. They may have also come out kind of stiff and generally you felt a big OOPS.
Most alpaca items do not have this issue but an item with a very high % of alpaca may very well shrink and/or felt under these conditions. Those items should generally be hand washed, see this FAQ to learn how to do that.
Felted or shrunk alpaca, there is a solution!
Alpaca does not shrink or felt as badly as sheep wool or even some cotton but it can happen. To fix it, think of alpaca as it is, a hair. Don't believe me, look at these guys!
So treat your problem for what it is, matted, knotted hair!
Simply fix it by using HAIR CONDITIONER on your alpaca!
Try these steps:
That should do it! Your recovered alpaca item should now be softer, flexible and larger. Give it a try and let us know how it turns out!
-Brian
Need a replacement alpaca items? See PurelyAlpaca Catalog