Once you've finished creating your beautiful natural knit, be it a sweater, socks, or a unique new pattern of your own, your next step will probably be to give it it's first washing. Just as the fibers we use in our knitting are important, so are the soaps we use to wash our knitted garments. Like synthetic yarns, non-natural soaps also contain hazardous chemicals, known to cause cancer and other health disorders. There are several natural soaps available that offer the perfect choice for natural knits.

Two of the most popular and widely recommended soap brands for washing knitted projects are Soak and Eucalan. Both comprise of primarily natural or natural-derived ingredients. They both work well for handknits and are significantly better than common household laundry detergents, which contain a long list of unpronounceable chemical ingredients. However, at the top of our list is Dr. Bronner's and KnitIQ -- competitively priced and made from a short list of natural ingredients, they wash well and don't leave us wondering about potential negative effects. Let's take a quick look at the ingredients used in these four wool washes, as well as a common household detergent and see how they compare: