Tending to wool

[MichelleCarmen]

Is it better to cool hand-wash a wool sweater and then flat dry it or take it to a dry cleaner?

Normally, my clothes purchases are fun ones and my only "investment" clothes are my HE jeans, but I found a very cute simple sweater at Banana Republic that I can imagine wearing for a number of years and am hoping to have it hold up.

Should I wash it at home? The care tag says hand wash or dry clean.

 

[Maisie]

I don''t know the best way to wash it, but I do know my sister washed hers in the machine and it went from an adult size to a baby size!

 

[Independent Gal]

If you wash it in the machine, make sure the label says that''s ok. Then use ''Woolite'' and wash in cold water on the gentle cycle.

If it says dry clean only, you can always use Dryel. I''m a big fan!

 

[crown1]

i have always hand washed, in luke warm to cool water with woolite, and had good success. it is a little time consuming, to gently wash and then rinse really well, before rolling in a towel, to remove as much water as possible, before laying it flat to dry. lately i am more inclined to dry clean simply because i am lazy.

 

[VRBeauty]

If the label says you can hand wash, then you can hand wash. You might be able to machine wash (gentle, cold), but I have experienced some shrinkage doing that. With wool, excessive aggitation, combined with soap, can lead to felting or shrinking. Hot (or warm) water makes it worse. I've even lost a sweater that I washed in cold water but then put laid out on top of a dryer... the heat and vibration from the dryer caused it to shrink!

That's the other thing you'll have to consider... how you'll dry the sweater once it's washed. Drying flat is ideal but impractical for many of us. If you hang it (over a towel rack, say) you have to be careful to do in such a way that it can't stretch out of shape. Sometimes that means rolling the wet sweater in towels to get out excess water.

Having said all that, I've also washed lots of merino, aran, and cashmere sweaters at home with no problem, sometimes in the machine (I have a front-loader). My experience with sweaters with angora is not good -- it seems like they'll shrink unless you wash them in ice water! I also don't use woolite for wool. The instructor in a textiles class I took years ago said that woolite has ingredients that can actually harm protein based fabrics such as wool or silk. I'm sure that's more theoretical that real.... i.e., it would only happen after many, many uses, or if you soak the wool in it for a long time... but there are so many alternatives available that I figure, why take a chance?

 

[Pandora II]

I swear by Woolite - we were recommended it on my textiles degree course by the knitwear tutor, so that''s interesting that others don''t.

The really important thing with wool is: hotwater and movement do not mix. You can put wool in hot water no problem as long as it doesn''t move - that''s how you dye it etc.

So what I do is run a sink of slightly colder than lukewarm water, add the woolite and swish it around a bit. Plonk in the garment and let it soak for 3 minutes - you can squeeze it through stained areas, but DO NOT RUB!

Then stick it the the machine on a cold rinse cycle.

I do this with all my cashmere jumpers and they come up beautifully.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Thanks everyone.

I do have a home drying rack and regularly hand wash and flat dry my clothes (after rolling up in towels - sounds like I'm the only one who obsesses over this

) lol, BUT, like I said, I don't usually care if something lasts for more than a few years so I just wash items in Dreft and usually all is good for the length of expected life span.

Here's the sweater I got. It is SO cute in person, even though it just looks okay in the picture. It'll only fit if it maintains it's current length:

http://www.bananarepublic.com/browse/product.do?cid=5036&pid=526440&scid=526440002

Most of my shirts/sweaters cost up to about $80 so this is about the most I'd spend on a single sweater.

 

[Kaleigh]

Cute sweater!! I''d play it on the safe side and get it dry cleaned, but that''s just me.

 

[mrssalvo]

Date: 11/10/2007 9:26:44 PM
Author: Kaleigh
Cute sweater!! I''d play it on the safe side and get it dry cleaned, but that''s just me.

me too. intersting info though pandora, i may try it some time.