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How to Store Yarn: Helpful Guide

Once you start knitting and buying all sorts of yarn that is needed for your new hobby, you need to learn the basics of how to properly store and organize your supplies; this includes needles, sewing kits, and most importantly yarn.

You need to know how to take good care of it. Do you want to keep your yarn in a good condition for further usage? Here are a few tips and tricks on how to store yarn.

Key Takeaways

  • Yarn can safely be stored in dark places, at room temperature on the floor, or hung up on the wall
  • Avoiding humidity and heat as well as placing them on rugs and carpets is best.
  • Neatly storing the yarn in skeins, cakes or balls makes it easily accessible and a lot more functional overall.
  • Avoid critters by not buying yarn at garage sales or auctions unless you know what you’re buying
  • Use lavender to chase away any unwanted bugs when keeping the yarn stored in your closet
  • Treat your final projects as you would treat yarn – keep them washed, neatly stored, and protected from bugs.

How Should Yarn Be Stored?

Make sure that it is in a room that is neither too damp nor too hot. The best way to store yarn is to keep it at room temperature and in a heat-resistant place out of the reach of sunlight. As a general rule, you should store yarn in boxes or drawers. What this does is keep the yarn from sunlight, which means it will not get dusty or faded.

You can also read some knitting needles for beginners.

Tips and Tricks

Keep your yarn organized by its type of fiber. Weight is not always a reliable method of storing yarn, for it could change from manufacturer to manufacturer. Your yarn still needs to be labeled. Make sure to write down, keep the tag and go as far as organizing your yarn purchases in a spreadsheet after storing it.

Keep it neatly stored and untangled for easy use; This is most commonly done in skeins, cakes, or balls. Treat your finished projects the same way you would treat your yarn. Moreover, it means nothing if you go overboard when caring about protecting your yarn, only to have moths feast on your finished sweater in your closet.

Your yarn should be kept safe from vermin and insects. Don’t use ziplock or vacuum bags. Yarn doesn’t really require breathability, as most people online say. However, trapping your yarn with even a little humid air or any kind of wetness will ruin the condition it is in. This can also happen by letting already slightly damp yarn stay in a vacuum place, which then traps the moisture inside and doesn’t allow breathability either way.

Do not expose it to direct sunlight. This one is pretty elementary, as sunlight impacts the quality of the yarn. Don’t let it sit too long out in the open, as the sun is a huge laser beam that is going to melt away your yarn.

Buy your yarn directly from the spinner to assure that you are using quality and well-kept yarn; if that is not possible or you don’t mind buying yarn from auctions or yard sales, at least take the necessary precautions.

Your best bet when this happens is to store the yarn in a zip-lock bag and let it sit in the freezer for a few days. This will ensure the death of any moths, carpet beetles, or other yarn-loving insects. As they love making nests on yarn, this is a perfect way to get rid of them.

Another great trick is the use of lavender against bugs. This can be done by spraying lavender on the finished project (scarf, sweater, socks, etc.) or simply just putting a little sachet stored along with the yarn.

And most importantly, to avoid tangles and any missing equipment, make sure to keep the yarn out of reach for children or pets.

You can also read some knitting yarns for beginners.

Fun and Creative Places to Store Your Yarn In

Woven baskets

Woven baskets are a great place where you can freely store your yarn. However, putting them in a basket right on top of a carpet on the floor is a horrible idea. Don’t store yarn in places where you know insects are. Carpet beetles love yarn, and they will prove it to you if you let them by carelessly placing your yarn on the floor.

Under bed

Woven baskets under your bed, overall are a way better idea. Under your bed is a perfect place for storing yarn, as it has two crucial things we need to look out for; there is dryness and darkness.

This is amazing as it prevents sunlight from ruining the dye on your favorite yarns. Dryness is also a key factor when it comes to preserving the quality of yarn. It keeps it free from mold and ensures a quality knit.

Under your bed, you can store the yarn in large plastic boxes, which are the better version of zip-lock bags as they are not disposable. This keeps wool or any other type of yarn safe from unwanted creepy crawlies.

In shelves as kept in stores

Mount boxes on the wall or any kind of shelves are a great place to store yarn in, as long as it is not directly exposed to sunlight. It is a good place to store them, especially because this way they are in the main living area, thus probably aren’t going to be affected by too much heat or mold caused by the dampness and humidity of the air.

Egg cartons

This is a fun, creative way to store yarn. It’s a great method of storing yarn when it comes to smaller balls. Namely, yarn that is half-used can be stored in an egg carton in the form of a ball instead of a skein.

Wine racks

Wine racks are an excellent place to put your yarn in, for they resemble a shelf or any type of box wall mount. They are very affordable and come in different styles and decor. Not only are they efficient and inexpensive, but they also offer a lot of space for your gorgeous-colored yarn to be stored out in the open, making for a pretty sight to look at.

Also read a comparison between cotton and acrylic yarn.

Final Words

Storing your yarn in an appropriate place is an essential part of any knitting project and there are many ways to do so. Airtight boxes and baskets are just a few of the multiple places you could keep your yarn safe. Finally, always make sure to keep it in a place just within arm’s length, so that you don’t leave it somewhere you’ll forget about where it could get damaged.