washing wool jumpers

[vmac3205]

While agreeing with all the above about hand and gentle wash, there are now GREAT products available to wash your fine woolens in. They are available in the yarn shops, and possible elsewhere, and requite no rinsing. Check them out!

[Mark's Mom]

Some wools will felt and shrink when they are set in the sunshine, so it is advisable to dry the garment away from direct sunlight. I have a wool setting on my front-loading washer and I have never had a problem washing and spinning the water out of wool. Top loader washers use agitation to get clothes clean; top loaders use gravity and centrifugal forces, which are gentler on fabrics. If you have a top loader, it's best to hand wash and roll out the water with a towel.

[Pleater]

There should be washing instructions on a label inside the garment - they could be just symbols but Google for washing symbols and a translation should be upcoming.

Wool can be treated during processing into yarn to make it washable, and there are programs on washing machines for woollens - at least there are on the ones I have had for some years.

If your jersey is distorted you can remedy the problem to some extent by using hair conditioner. It makes it possible for the fibres to slide over eachother, reversing the shrinking process, with a bit of help.

Buy a bottle of cheap stuff - not shampoo and - the conditioner only, wet the jersey thoroughly in mildly warm water then lift it out carefully keeping it supported, add a good dose of conditioner to the water then mix it in and replace the garment. Work the conditioner through the garment then pull the neck back to longer and thinner - just gather up all the fabric evenly around the edges and pull steadily. Do the same for the body - if you can't hold all of it at once work on sections, keeping the back and front together and checking that the sides and middle are the same length. Go around the ribbing as a single layer, drawing it out longer just a few inches at a time, and work around and around as several light pulls will give a better result than one heavy one.

You might hear faint cracking and even minute tearing sounds - that is good, the fibres are releasing and moving back to where they were.

Rinse out the conditioner - it might take quite a number of rinses. We have a shower where the head can be used in the hand and I would lay the garment under that and use a warm gently spray, gently squeezing out the water. A final rinse with a cup of white vinegar in the water is good, wool likes to be slightly acid.

I leave the garment to drain for a few minutes, then lay it on a towel rather narrower than its true shape, put another towel on top then roll it up and stamp on it. Dry flat spread out to shape.

If the welts are floppy and do not draw in fully when stretched you can use fine elastic and sew it in on the edge of the ribbing and where it converts to the main knitting to help hold it. The elastic is a misty grey so it blends in to most colours, and it is hidden inside anyway.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[Lallans]

As a big fan of wool, I am also a little on the lazy side when it comes to walking umpteen garments through hand washing, sweaters aka jumpers especially. I've developed a practice of putting such items in the washer with a special wool detergent such as Zero or Woolite- liquids are always best because they mix quickly and thoroughly- filling with COLD water, agitating briefly and letting them soak for at least 10 minutes, then allowing regular agitation for about a minute (if you can stand it) before turning the dial to drain and rinse. The only hard part is waiting around for the rinse agitation in order to turn the dial ahead again to spin- I have taken to changing to the gentle cycle and letting the rinse proceed that way, then returning back to the full spin cycle since the gentle one is too brief for a heavy item. Then dry flat, and since most of the water has been spun out that takes less than a few days.

Incidentally, the scent of the woolen cleaners I use also seems to be designed to repel moths- while it lasts.

[cessna152towser]

I have an Easycare programme on my washing machine.
There is a Woollens 30c programme which I sometimes use, but the Easycare 40c works equally well.
Wool jumpers I would normally wash separately.
Wool hose I usually buy the very largest size and wash and spin dry them with my ordinary clothes at 60c then they shrink down to the right size for me.

[MacLowlife]

I have several jumpers / sweaters made of cotton or cotton and linen that have stretched. Can anyone recommend a method of controlled shrinkage to restore their shape?

[Paul Henry]

I have several jumpers / sweaters made of cotton or cotton and linen that have stretched. Can anyone recommend a method of controlled shrinkage to restore their shape?

I've had exactly the same problem, they seem to be just about ok, immediately after washing,but they do seem to grow with wearing.

I normally wash in a hot(ish) cycle in a machine, drying flat.
If any one has a magic solution , I'll be grateful to hear it as well

[auld argonian]

I have several jumpers / sweaters made of cotton or cotton and linen that have stretched. Can anyone recommend a method of controlled shrinkage to restore their shape?

I've had some luck putting the cotton based ones in the dryer on low and setting a timer for fifteen minutes or so so that I can get downstairs and get it out of the still running dryer while it's still warm but not completely dry.
At that point, I either put it on the rack or just toss it over the wider towel bar in the bathroom na let it dry the rest of the way. The heat tends to bring it back into shape but since I don't dry it all the way, it doesn't shrink down too much.

I did the same thing accidentally with a pair of the Bridgedale Blaxnit socks that I use for kilt hose and it got them back into shape and sort of tamed the fuzziness that they were beginning to exhibit.

Also, for the sweater and kilt washing crowd:

http://www.eucalan.com/


Best

AA

[MacBean]

as no one has mentioned it ... my Mom uses a wooden sweater stretcher. It's a flat wooden torso with pivoting arms. The sweater is physically limited from shrinking overmuch.

[rtc872]

I am happy to say that by after washing (using the washing machine) I stretched them to shape and lay them to dry instead of hanging and they are all perfect.

Thanks for your help everyone