Durable Yarn at 5 Weeks- Ultimate Acrylic Yarn Comparison

September 8, 2020

I apologize in advance for how image heavy today’s post is going to be! I’m sure many of you would be willing to take my word for it if I said one yarn was wearing faster than another. While I believe data is important, I believe transparency is even more important. So lets start talking about which yarns are durable.

Predicting the most Durable Yarn

After the first wash, I was noticing that many of the ends I had not woven in (because I’m lazy) were wearing differently than others. Inspiration struck and I decided to make a prediction on the most durable yarns would be, soley based on the tails! This is mostly for amusement, so feel free to skip to the real comparison if you wish.

Durable Yarn: 5 Week Comparison

The video compares the yarns side by side to see how they are handling the wear. These are after 7 washes (I was a week late doing the video). Do note that the KC Smooth yarn has been washed twice as long as these other yarns, but is doing just as well!

Translating my video commentary to written text is not easy. So please watch the video for the best detail! But I separate out a few yarns as looking very nice still. Those yarns are:

And I go into more detail when comparing these other yarns that are showing some or little wear:

A Picture is Worth 1000 Words!

In this section, I have a photo of each yarn at 5 washes. And yes, this is actually at 5 washes, whereas the video above is a week (and two washes) later. Every other week I do two loads of laundry instead of one. Now you can understand why I got myself all confused with my counting!

One important thing to note at this stage, is that anti-pilling yarns are designed such that pills will shed themselves in the wash as they form. I am not sure how “immediate” they shed, so we may see these yarns fluctuate in the list more than the basic acrylics.

You can click on each photo to view a larger version and click through the gallery in full screen.

Knit & Crochet Smooth Acrylic Yarn after 10 Washes (sorry, didn’t take one at 5).
Lion Brand Jeans knitting swatch after 5 washes.
Bernat Softee Chunky after 5 washes.
Loops & Threads Impeccable looks brand new after 5 washes!
Worsted weight Willow Yarns Wash after 5 washes.
You are not supposed to machine dry Big Twist value, but I did anyway. This photo was taken after 5 washes.
This photo makes this yarn look a little more worn than it actually is, probably because of the light! This is Hobby Lobby I love this yarn after 5 washes.
This Anti-Pilling yarn from Premier Yarns looks great after 5 washes!
Knit Pick’s Brava Sport is developing a soft halo after 5 washes.
The Basic Stitch Premium yarn from Lion Brand is starting to develop a halo after 5 washes.
The Anti-pilling version of Lion Brand Basic Stitch looks much nicer after 5 washes than it’s Premium counterpart!
My swatch of Caron One Pound is showing wear comparable to Big Twist Value yarn, even though you are allowed to machine dry this yarn.
Cascade Yarns North Shore looks as fresh as the day I knit it, even after 5 rounds in the wash.
Paintbox Simply Aran Is developing a halo after 5 washes, comparable to the halo of Lion Brand Basic Stitch Premium & Knit Picks Brava.
Although Red Heart Soft isn’t as wrinkled as some of the other yarns, this one seems to wrinkle more consistently. Like many yarns, it is developing a halo after 5 washes.
Another anti-pilling yarn looking absolutely splendid after 5 washes! This one is Loops & Threads Joy DK.
The halo is showing on Caron Simpy Soft after 5 washes.
The halo on Stylecraft Special DK begins to show after 5 washes
The halo on Schachenmayr Soft & Easy is so fine it looks brand new after 5 washes!
The slight halo on King Cole Cherished DK after 5 washes is more visible than on Schachenmayr, but definitely less prominent than on Stylecraft and other yarns.

My Thoughts on Durable Yarn Thus Far

I honestly didn’t expect to see so much variation after only five washes. But I am being incredibly hard on all these swatches to simulate as much wear and tear as I can. Perhaps I am doing too good a job?

I’m excited to see that anti-pilling yarns are holding up better than their counterparts. The higher prices are definitely worth it if this trend continues!

I’m intrigued that some of these yarns are more prone to wrinkling than others. At first I thought that these yarns must be getting tangled with my jeans or towels so they had no choice. But a few of these wrinkle very consistently from wash to wash. It is something to consider if you are wanting to machine wash and dry a garment in those yarns!

Stay tuned to see how all of these yarns fare at 10 weeks!

If you found this post helpful, please consider supporting my blog by buying yarn through one of the affiliate links below or by buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi!