What to do about my sweaters

[radiantquest]

When I hang them I get the bumps in the shoulders and they seem to stretch out because they are so heavy.

When I fold them the thin ones get wrinkes and the thick ones take up too much room.

I need a solution to the sweater problem. They are my favorite thing to wear in the winter and they are either wrinkled or stretched out. Please help me.

 

[packrat]

My mom got us some of those hangers that are from QVC or someplace. I think they''re Joy Mangano or something. They work well for us.

 

[radiantquest]

What hangers? Could you describe them? Are they the ones that are wide? I thought about them, but wouldn''t the sweater still stretch from the weight?

 

[packrat]

Lemme think a sec..I think they''re called..huggable hangers? I''ll look on their site and see if that''s the same thing, hold on.

 

[packrat]

K, this is I''m pretty sure the set we have, except it''s grey, not white or black. It was over about a year and a half ago that she got them for us. And it''s HSN, not QVC-oops. hangers

I think they work well. It''s harder to pull clothes off the hanger, so that''s kind of an issue..but that''s the only one I have. They''re soft to the touch and I''ve not noticed any shoulder bumps on anything. One thing about being harder to get off the hanger, when you''re hanging up other things, your clothes aren''t falling off the hanger all the time like when they''re plastic.

There''s a bunch of different colors and options, like if you only want the kind for shirts, not the ones that have the bar underneath for pants.

 

[smitcompton]

Hi,
I used to wash a lot of sweaters by hand. You avoid pilling and the sweater doesn''t age as fast.
I lay them out (block them) on a bath towel and then roll them up, not fold them or hang them. This absorbs the wet or dampness and if blocked, comes out without stretching or having marks from hanging. Its keeps sweaters from aging. I also use woolite.
Thanks,

 

[smitcompton]

Hi,
Disregard my reply. I assumed they were being washed. I used to fold my sweaters, never hang them

 

[Porridge]

Anywhere to lay them flat, on on top of the other?

 

[fleur-de-lis]

Fold the thin ones with color-free, acid-free tissue paper. Also, good sweaters should never be hung.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Date: 9/26/2009 12:41:15 PM
Author: packrat
My mom got us some of those hangers that are from QVC or someplace. I think they''re Joy Mangano or something. They work well for us.

I have those too. You can also get them at Target or TJ Maxx/Homegoods.

 

[radiantquest]

Date: 9/26/2009 1:46:20 PM
Author: smitcompton
Hi,
I used to wash a lot of sweaters by hand. You avoid pilling and the sweater doesn''t age as fast.
I lay them out (block them) on a bath towel and then roll them up, not fold them or hang them. This absorbs the wet or dampness and if blocked, comes out without stretching or having marks from hanging. Its keeps sweaters from aging. I also use woolite.
Thanks,

Yes, I wash them. So you are saying that I should wash them and then roll them in towels? They won''t get that musty smell? I have one sweater that is super thick and I laid it out to dry on a sweater drying rack and it now has a musty smell that will not come out.

OK, let me get this straight. Wash in the sink with woolite. Warm or cool water? I will have to squeeze the excess water out somehow right? and then you say to lay it on a towel and then roll it up and leave it that way until I am ready to wear it again.

The reason this is even an issue is because I have bought all brand new sweaters and I don''t want past issues to be issues any longer so I need sound advice on this sweater business.

 

[jewelerman]

Date: 9/26/2009 2:21:07 PM
Author: fleur-de-lis
Fold the thin ones with color-free, acid-free tissue paper. Also, good sweaters should never be hung.

ditto...never hang sweaters!

 

[cellentani]

radiantquest, how you wash, dry, and store your sweaters should probably depend on what fiber and thickness they are. Here''s what I do:

1) for cleaning, any wool, cashmere, or extremely delicate sweater gets drycleaned. Some people can hand wash successfully, but I have a trusted cleaner who does a beautiful job.

2) other washable fibers get either hand washed, or washed in the machine on the gentle cycle (my preferred method). I use either Woolite for darks (won''t strip color) or a lingerie wash. I also turn the sweaters inside-out before washing. If I hand wash, I make sure to rinse very well. Water temp depends on color-fastness. If it bleeds, cold water, otherwise lukewarm to warm is fine - check clothing label first.

3) for drying a hand-washed item, after squeezing out as much water as possible by hand, I''ll lay the sweater out on a clean dry towel. I''ll then roll up the towel (sweater inside), and squeeze the towel, pressing as hard as I can. This will get out most of the water so it''s not dripping wet. Then I proceed with step 4.

4) for drying a machine washed sweater, I''ll put it in the dryer on low heat for about 5-10 minutes. It should still be damp when taken out, but this really gets out all the wrinkles and sort of fluffs up the sweater. Then the sweater gets laid out on a dry towel to finish drying - it should definitely be dry overnight, otherwise it''s not getting enough ventilation, or it''s too humid.

5) for me, storing depends on the weight and construction of the sweater. I have some lightweight sweaters that get hung all the time, and they aren''t stretched out or have hanger dimples. I never hang heavy sweaters or raglan-sleeve sweaters (you will definitely get dimples). It does take time to fold a sweater so that it doesn''t have wrinkles, but sometimes it just has to be done. I have also folded super-thick sweaters by eliminating some of the standard folds. Flip sweater over so back is facing up, but don''t fold in each side - just fold in sleeves, and bring the bottom edge of sweater to shoulders, folding in half. Your finished, folded sweater will be wider, but not as bulky.

*you mentioned a thick sweater that ended up smelling musty - what fiber is it? Some fibers will smell funny if you get them wet. You can try tumbling it in a cool dryer with a used dryer sheet (a new one might leave too much residue) for a few minutes to see if that will freshen the smell.

Good grief, that was an absurdly long post - sorry I''m a dork about laundry, but i hope it helps.

 

[4ever]

The very BEST way to keep sweaters wrinkle free, avoid the soulder disfiggurement that you get from hanging them up AND still be able to see them all in a draw unlike if you lay them flat on top of each other.......... is rolling them!

Lay the sweater flat and then roll up into a little sweater tube. When you put them next to each other in your draws you''ll be able to see them all, it takes up very little space AND the unroll wrinkle free! I personally like to arange my rolled up sweaters by colour, but that''s just me.

 

[Hera]

Date: 9/26/2009 10:35:00 PM
Author: cellentani
radiantquest, how you wash, dry, and store your sweaters should probably depend on what fiber and thickness they are. Here''s what I do:


1) for cleaning, any wool, cashmere, or extremely delicate sweater gets drycleaned. Some people can hand wash successfully, but I have a trusted cleaner who does a beautiful job.


2) other washable fibers get either hand washed, or washed in the machine on the gentle cycle (my preferred method). I use either Woolite for darks (won''t strip color) or a lingerie wash. I also turn the sweaters inside-out before washing. If I hand wash, I make sure to rinse very well. Water temp depends on color-fastness. If it bleeds, cold water, otherwise lukewarm to warm is fine - check clothing label first.


3) for drying a hand-washed item, after squeezing out as much water as possible by hand, I''ll lay the sweater out on a clean dry towel. I''ll then roll up the towel (sweater inside), and squeeze the towel, pressing as hard as I can. This will get out most of the water so it''s not dripping wet. Then I proceed with step 4.


4) for drying a machine washed sweater, I''ll put it in the dryer on low heat for about 5-10 minutes. It should still be damp when taken out, but this really gets out all the wrinkles and sort of fluffs up the sweater. Then the sweater gets laid out on a dry towel to finish drying - it should definitely be dry overnight, otherwise it''s not getting enough ventilation, or it''s too humid.


5) for me, storing depends on the weight and construction of the sweater. I have some lightweight sweaters that get hung all the time, and they aren''t stretched out or have hanger dimples. I never hang heavy sweaters or raglan-sleeve sweaters (you will definitely get dimples). It does take time to fold a sweater so that it doesn''t have wrinkles, but sometimes it just has to be done. I have also folded super-thick sweaters by eliminating some of the standard folds. Flip sweater over so back is facing up, but don''t fold in each side - just fold in sleeves, and bring the bottom edge of sweater to shoulders, folding in half. Your finished, folded sweater will be wider, but not as bulky.


*you mentioned a thick sweater that ended up smelling musty - what fiber is it? Some fibers will smell funny if you get them wet. You can try tumbling it in a cool dryer with a used dryer sheet (a new one might leave too much residue) for a few minutes to see if that will freshen the smell.


Good grief, that was an absurdly long post - sorry I''m a dork about laundry, but i hope it helps.

Wow, you are serious about your laundry.