During

Well, the first attempt didn't go so well.
My partner insisted I should wash all the dirty towels we had rather
than the 3 I had been planning.
This resulted in one slipper not getting immersed enough in the hot
water.
Secondly; the wash cycle at the laundromat was just too short for even
the well immersed one to felt enough.
I tossed them in the dryer, but it didn't seem to have any effect.
So I put them in the washer again for a second attempt.
Gonna check them now

later: sigh, ok a 2nd cycle thru the washer barely helped. Rather than spend all my money on this I've decided to switch to the "hard boiled" method as outlined on the knit like a pirate site
it's all good practice for when i felt the pirate hat i'm knitting for kiddo (also from the knitlikeapirate folks)