Thankfully wool is fairly repellent to dirt, meaning you don't have to wash it quite as often as you would with other materials. However, if you do need to clean your Tartan Blanket, here are a few techniques to help keep your wool looking it's best.
Keep it simple and try hanging your blanket up to air-clean, either somewhere with a lot of circulation inside or outside on your washing line. Just make sure the weather is good if you are hanging it outside, it needs to be dry but not too sunny as direct sunlight could fade the the beautiful tartan colours.
Lay your blanket out so it's nice and flat and use a soft brush to gently remove any dirt, just make sure to keep brushing in the same direction so you don't weaken the wool fibers by rubbing them the wrong way.
Despite being naturally stain & water repellent, after a few minutes liquid will start to soak in to your wool blanket. To reduce staining use warm water and a very mild detergent, just soak the area and blot with a nice and soft cloth, don't scrub the fabric as this will disrupt the fibres.
If you have had to gently hand wash your blanket then it's really important to allow your blanket to dry properly. Don't hang a wet throw on your washing line as the weight of the water & gravity will stretch the fibers in your blanket. Lay the blanket flat to dry, you can pop some towels underneath to help absorb the moisture and speed the process up slightly.
As wool fibers become loose they can start to gather to create pills. This is very natural and isn't something to worry about. You can remove pilling with a depilling comb, just gently comb your blanket in one direction over the required areas.
Both the heat and the constant spinning of a washing machine mean that your blanket could shrink, loose shape and become fragile so we would recommend avoiding this when it comes to your cleaning your blanket.
This is the best & safest way to wash all wool products.