UKC

Aldi have these again from next Thursday, £9.99

Those of you that bought them last year, were they any good?

Cheers,

Andy.

In reply to Andrew Dolman: thats it, I'm off to Aldi again....trouble is my local store never seems to have ANY clothing in

In reply to Andrew Dolman: I got one. I wore it twice, got a sweaty back and the wool on the back shrunk a lot, leaving a very short back to the top.

In reply to Andrew Dolman:

Made well enough but they are not machine washable.

In reply to Alpnick: I didnt think it was a good idea to wash any wool garments in an automatic washing machine... maybe that is where the poster above went wrong and why it shrunk...

In reply to marie:

You can wash woollen clothes in a washing m/c but only on a very low temperature. Until it got nicked last year, I was the proud owner of an Aldi merino jumper which the man had successfully shrunk from a large to a dinky size..... by mistake of course

In reply to Andrew Dolman:
I bought 2; one with a zip. I like them a lot but mainly used as a nice top to wear on their own. Only hand washed once (they don't smell much) but did shrink a bit. Best to oversize I'd say. They are quite thin really but as a baselayer or a thin extra base I think they are pretty good.

In reply to Andrew Dolman:

i bought one... shrunk loads the first time iw ashed it. gf now has that one.

i bought another, and was a bit more careful with washing and it's great. can't fault it for the price

In reply to Andrew Dolman: I've got one. It became my baselayer of choice for ice climbing all this winter. Hardly smells even after days and days of use (my various polypro ones now all smell after ten minutes of wear). The thumb holes are actually really good and no itching or chafing anywhere. Goes a bit fluffy with use, dries slowly if you soak it and a pain to hand wash, but besides that one of the best tenners I (well actually my dad*) has ever spent on 'kit'. The definition of value for money.

*The trick is to live in a foreign country with no Aldis, so you have to email your dad: "if you are going into town in the next few days could you pop into Aldi and pick me up one of these? <Insert web address>" Worked a treat for me!

Seriously, if they are the same as last years, I'd go for it.

In reply to marie:

Muz has 2 merino tops (not Aldi ones) that go in the washing machine with everything else on a 40 degree wash. They don't go in the dryer though. They're fine and have not shrunk at all.

In reply to TobyA:
what are the sizings like?, is a medium in these the same as a medium in paramo, or patagonia etc, - i might get my sister to buy one for me as i'm abroad at the moment (and have shrunk my current 'cheap' merino thermal. (bizarly merino stuff is still pretty dear in NZ)

james e

In reply to James Edwards: I think mine is medium and its snug but not tight. I have a medium patagonia fleece, arctryx shell and marmot soft shell all of which fit me well - so yep it would appear to be a pretty standard medium. Of course they might be sourcing them from somewhere completely different though, this year so don't take it as gospel.

In reply to Andrew Dolman:

They're not as nice as other merino tops from the likes of Smartwool, Icebreaker, Rab and Howies - much scratchier - so I don't like wearing them next to the skin, but then again, they are a fraction of the cost. I had problems with shrinkage (which again, I haven't had with the other merino tops), but I reckon if you're more careful than I was and buy a size up, you'd be okay. Like Toby says, great value for money.

In reply to Andrew Dolman:


Most of the better NZ merino (Icebreaker, Rab howies, arcteryx etc) is machine washable.

The main reason the ALDI stuff shrinks is due to "felting" which is caused by the scales on the surface gradually pulling in on other strands/fibres (like a ratchet) so they will move one way but not the other. This is called the "differential shrinkage effect" so as you have the mechanical process of washing the garment gradually pulls in on itself and makes it self smaller. Hand washing doesnt have quite the same mecahnical effect.


More expensive garments tend to have "Easy care" treatments (something to do with polymers) that reduce the friction and as a result the shrinkage.


Saying that i think the Aldi stuff is well made and it just a shame they dont add on the extra few quid for easy care.


Cheers


Nick

In reply to Andrew Dolman:
I got one last year. I hand washed it very cool in pure soap and it shrunk massively but just about fit my wife. I washed it a second time and now its so small its barely fit to make a pair of underpants.

They're a false economy unless you never wash them.

In reply to marie:

Nah, machine washable wool is one of the wonders of recent years. I have a number of posh wool jumpers & trousers for work - all machine wash at either 30 or 40 degrees.

In reply to Siward: I don't know how you managed that - I've washed mine quite a few times and don't think it has shrunk at all.

In reply to dinkypen:

Do the shrunken items work just as well?


I had a pair of woolen socks that I gave the Dachstein-treatment; buy a pair of thick woolen socks a few sizes larger, boil in water so they shrink - resulting in the warmest, toughest pair of socks ever!

ps. Anyone have any idea of the approximate precentage shrinking

In reply to Andrew Dolman: Outside were selling some Moon ones cheap. I bought one a year ago and its been through hell & back & still looks brand new!