Washing tzitzit: What not to do

9th Jun 2025

We get questions about tzitzit laundering at least a dozen times a year, so that's about one per month, but over the past few days we got two questions regarding tzitzit mishaps (one minor and one disastrous), so although I'm not much of an expert when it comes to laundry, I wanted to just share some anecdotes and a few basic tips.

Speaking of tips, the first question was about tzitzit strings tips.

I'm emailing you because I saw some articles you had regarding cutting tzitzis strings, and I'm hoping that maybe you can help me...

My tzitzis strings were frayed so I cut them (with ceramic scissors), and then I dipped them in nail polish to prevent them from fraying more.

This worked until next time I washed them (by leaving them to soak in warm water+some soap from a bar of soap+some fabric softener) - however, when I took them out of the basin the very end of a lot of the strings were frayed again, even though they had been dipped in nail polish and not washed since.

Do you have any solutions to keep strings, which were cut, from fraying?
Thanks, Koby J.

Before tossing out any suggestions, first I asked Koby what he does to protect the strings while in the washing machine – Tuck them into the corners? Use a protective device (e.g. FringeGuard)? Use an improvised method to protect them? Or just a laundry bag?

Koby got back to me right away:

Regarding what I do with the strings when washing them, I wash them by letting them soak for a few hours in a basic with some warm water, soap, and fabric softener, and then rinsing them off. So nothing aggressive.

Well, it doesn't sound too aggressive, but maybe that soaking is aggressive frrom the standpoint of a dab of nail polish.

At that point, I decided to see if AI had anything to say on the subject...

Question: will soaking in soapy water help remove nail polish?

Answer: Soaking nails in soapy water can help loosen gel nail polish, making it easier to remove. While it won't dissolve the polish like acetone, it can soften the gel, allowing you to gently file or scrape it off.

Then I typed in this follow-up question -

Question: will soaking in soapy water help remove superglue?

Answer: Yes, soaking superglue in warm, soapy water can help to loosen the bond and make it easier to remove, especially if the glue hasn't fully dried. This method can be effective for removing superglue from skin or other materials.

So it sounds like superglue might be pretty much the same as nail polish, and really it's best to skip the soaking (or soak with the tips out of water).

The second inquiry really jarred me.

I received this order 2 months ago, and as of today, 17 out of the 19 tallitot I received are now useless because the strings have broken off. We have been buying from you for many years now, and this has never happened before. We usually get a year or so from each tallit before the strings start breaking off. I don't know how to explain why this is happening.

I need to place another order, but first I need to know if anything has changed on your side. Did you change providers for the strings? Please advise.

I was floored and asked him to send pictures. He did, and the pictures showed what he had described. I'd never heard or seen anything of this sort. I wrote to him as follows:

Over the course of around 15 years selling tzitzit, I recall only one similar issue. In that case, the customer revealed that he puts them in the washing machine loose, not protecting the tzitzit in a device or wrapping them in a sock or tucking them into the corner pockets. In fact, he didn't even use a laundry bag. So I asked if he, too, puts his tzitzit loose in the washing machine.

He replied with a laundry scenario I'd never encountered:

Thanks for your kind email.

We have always used a laundry bag and we also use the blue device to hold the strings.

The only thing that comes to mind that we changed some months ago was that we started soaking the tallitot in water with baking soda the day before washing them. Do you think that the baking soda might be affecting the strings?

Baking soda in the laundry? Never heard of such a thing. When I did some quick fact-checking online, I found that all sorts of sources sing the praised of using baking soda in the laundry. But with one caveat: it can be harsh on certain fabrics. "Excessive alkalinity could harm certain fabric types, causing discoloration or damage to delicate materials such as silk and wool. Thus, consider the fabric type before proceeding with a baking soda treatment," advises a site called Clotheslyne.

Likewise, the Tide website tell us: "Baking soda’s high pH [around 8.4 pH] can damage natural, protein-based fibers like wool, cashmere, and silk and can fade colors over time."

Tzitzit strings are made of wool.

So you might want to consider baking soda for some of your laundering needs – but not your tzitzit.

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For more tzitzit washing info, see here and here.