Okay that’s fair, I hadn’t really considered distribution on a plane. Still a bit silly when my carry-on was going to end up right next to my kid’s much lighter carry-on in the overhead bin, but whatever! I also know that policy is easy to lean on when consistently enforced. I did it in any case, even if I grumbled about it. (I was still nice to the agents though!)
They do in Europe. It’s annoying. I had to rearrange stuff amongst four carry-ons while standing in front of the check-in counter because one of them was too heavy. It would have all evened out and they knew that because they weighed all of them, but they still made me do it.
Wool knitters generally wash their sweaters only when they’re truly dirty. Otherwise they tend to air them out and rotate. Here is a super basic set of suggestions; I found it just by searching “caring for wool sweaters.” I know there’s probably a sense that base layers and socks which are very close to the skin (and near areas that tend to get smelly) might need more frequent washing, but since you have enough sets to rotate, I would try rotating and airing out first to see if they really hold on to the stink as much as one might fear. If they’re really wool, I think they’ll work themselves out. And it’s worth noting that wet wool has its own funky smell that detergent isn’t going to cover, so don’t freak out if it smells while washing when you do resort to it.
Okay sorry this is gonna come off as snarky but, how much merino wool stuff are we talking? Like one sweater? A couple? How much detergent do you really need? Wool also doesn’t need washing constantly, not like “regular” clothes like cotton or polyester. It has some of its own antimicrobial qualities as far as I know. I’m a knitter, I work primarily with merino and honestly I don’t wash my stuff all that often. (I don’t like knitting socks though; maybe they’d need it more often.) A small bottle of soak lasts me a loooong time.
Hmm, I can’t believe I never noticed that, but you’re right. I live in a neighborhood near an Orthodox Jewish temple, and I see men and boys walking all the time (older boys) but never women. I mean, to each their own I guess but I have the same worries about isolation and abuse.