I crochet and felt in my washing machine all the time I love it.I have a front loader and once I close the door I can't open it till the cycle is completed. I always add some other washing to it to help it felt down more. If I think it needs more I will put it through again or chuck it in the dryer. Its all experimentation with the wool brands you use. I spin my own and I use commercial wool to felt with and I much prefer to make what I want and throw it in the machine than to felt the traditional way myself.Oh also I don't need to use hot water and my machine still felts beautifully. My advice if you haven't tried it before is to make 2 swatches of the wool you will be using and put one through your machine. Then put the swatches of the before and after with relevant measurements in a book along with info or the ball band of the wool. This will save you a lot of heart ache later if you intend doing a lot of it, as you will know what it looks like before and after and know exactly how much it will shrink. So you will be able to make your items exactly so much bigger(eg; 1/3rd bigger ) than the finished size you will end up with.I hope this helps you enjoy your experience!
