Best yarn for soakers?

[aleirey]

I want to make some soakers for a friend and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for a good yarn to use.  I know that you should use good ol'wool but I don't want to use anything too scratchy! Would baby alpaca work?  Any suggestions would be great. Thanks.

[TAOJ]

My preference was always for 100% merino wool. I find it the less itchy of wools and it works great for soakers. Don't get the superwash, the way it is treated makes it so it doesn't seem to absorb as much.

[isisfae]

Lion Brand has a new cotton yarn called Nature's Choice Organic Cotton http://cache.lionbrand.com/yarns/naturesChoice.html

i just got some and it's cotton ball soft... hell it's alpaca soft!

i wouldn't use alpaca b/c you can only hand wash it and it's really drapey, especially baby alpaca. i made a cardigan for my mom using baby alpaca and as soft and squishy as it is, the item has so much drape that it almost resembles a cape when worn open. she's also not a fan of it being hand wash only, but she chose the yarn!

[tajhia]

My preference was always for 100% merino wool. I find it the less itchy of wools and it works great for soakers. Don't get the superwash, the way it is treated makes it so it doesn't seem to absorb as much.

I have never had a problem using superwash wool for my soakers and I like the fact that it means that they are easier to wash when they need it.....  but did only ever use the superwash ones for daytime use.  I like merino wool too......

did you know that you can also get away with using acrylic to make soakers though?  they need to be washed everytime they are used though but they do work well - sort of like a fleece cover would and they don't need treating with lanolin either......

[honeydew]

Baby alpaca isn't so good, even though it's super soft.  It's too drapey and doesn't have any natural lanolin in it.  (Speaking from experience: one of my first knit soakers was from baby alpaca, and it never worked very well.)