I try to wash my hose as soon as possible after wearing them - dark colours I will wear two days running, in cool weather, but as soon as the clocks change in the spring I only wear them one day, and in the hottest months of the year I always wash them as soon as I take them off.

If you let them lie around after wearing they will not last as long, and they can discolour if they are pale colours.

I have been making and wearing hose for 40 years now and I have some which must be almost that old, or at least the yarn is - I reknit them if they get a hole but the yarn is still good.

These days it would be difficult to get the 50 percent Nylon yarn I used to use, I have not seen it for a decade or so. I now use a yarn with more wool - I try to get a 20 percent Nylon, but 10 is the more usual these days.

I have made short socks from all wool - very luxurious but I doubt they would last long for hard wear.

I usually wash hose in the bathroom and tend to use either shampoo or toilet soap. I did get some liquid detergent once, but it seemed very harsh by comparison.

I think that shampoo with conditioner gives the best results with the high wool socks, as it helps stop felting and pilling.

I am not sure how it would affect acrylic mix socks as I don't have any, but I have heard that using ordinary clothing conditioner on arylic knits is not a good thing and can make them go limp and stretched out.

I usually wash, rinse twice, and then squeeze - I play guitar and my grip is good - though with the thickest and longest ones I wrap them in a towel and stand on them.

A third rinse with a drop of white vinegar will benefit wool socks, particularly if your feet tend to pong a bit - it corrects the acidity so the wool is happy and the pong making organisms are not.

I then hand them up to dry naturally, away from heat and sunlight - the sun will brown wet wool, and make it brittle - which is good in a way as the brown bits will break off, but it weakens the threads and makes them feel itchy as all the broken ends work their way out of the stitches.