warren@pluto.UUCP (Warren Burstein) (12/23/85)
For years I have been trying to avoid ruining talitot k'tanot in washing machines by wrapping the tzitzit in aluminum foil. Very often the foil tore got all over the machine and the threads frayed or broke. Well today I tried bringing all four corners together, folding all the tzitzit in half several times, and wrapping a heavy rubber band around them. This seems to keep the ends of the threads from bouncing all around and getting tangled. Next I work on a machine to polish t`filin, like those for bowling balls, they'd be next to the pushka and....
abeles@mhuxm.UUCP (J. Abeles (Bellcore, Murray Hill, NJ)) (12/25/85)
> For years I have been trying to avoid ruining talitot k'tanot in > washing machines by wrapping the tzitzit in aluminum foil. Very > often the foil tore got all over the machine and the threads frayed > or broke. Well today I tried bringing all four corners together, folding > all the tzitzit in half several times, and wrapping a heavy rubber > band around them. This seems to keep the ends of the threads from > bouncing all around and getting tangled. Another method which doesn't require finding rubber bands is to tie a tight slip knot at each end. When it's dry you can just pull the knot apart, but when it's wet it holds together. The kind of knot I use is like a simple knot with the end doubling back through the knot so you can pull it apart later without futzing around.
teitz@aecom.UUCP (Eliyahu Teitz) (12/27/85)
> For years I have been trying to avoid ruining talitot k'tanot in > washing machines by wrapping the tzitzit in aluminum foil. Very > often the foil tore got all over the machine and the threads frayed > or broke. Well today I tried bringing all four corners together, folding > all the tzitzit in half several times, and wrapping a heavy rubber > band around them. This seems to keep the ends of the threads from > bouncing all around and getting tangled. > > Next I work on a machine to polish t`filin, like those for > bowling balls, they'd be next to the pushka and.... I find that putting the tzitzit in a nylon mesh bag works best. After the wash just take them out and let them drip dry. The dryer does horrible things to the strings. Also, bleach tends to make wool strings turn yellow. There are some people who just hand wash them in woolite. Eliyahu Teitz.