How to wash a wool sweater by hand and in a machine so that it does not change size?

You should not wash a wool sweater together with the rest of your clothes, because wool is a very delicate, albeit stain-resistant material. To care for it, you will need to purchase special chemicals, as well as comply with the conditions necessary for gentle cleaning and preservation of wool fibers without deformation or damage.

Features of washing woolen items

Wool items are extremely soft and warm, but these qualities can easily be spoiled by improper care. Often, woolen clothes shrink or stretch after drying, and it is impossible to return them to their original appearance.

To keep a woolen item in its original form, it is important to remember 4 rules:

1. Frequent washing and prolonged soaking lead to stretching of woolen products, so you need to wear them very carefully. If you protect your clothes from excessive contamination and do not rub them against dirty surfaces, cleaning will be required much less often.
2. It is unacceptable to rub or twist clothes made of wool: because of this, the delicate fibers of the material are stretched and torn, which cannot but affect the condition of the product as a whole.
3. To wash a wool sweater correctly, you need to choose the appropriate product. Liquid gels or powders for wool products are best suited for this purpose.
4. After the main wash, it is recommended to rinse the clothes in water with the addition of baby conditioner or glycerin (2 tsp.for 1 bucket of water).

Regular powder is not recommended for washing woolen clothes: its aggressive action causes the wool fibers to shrink and become deformed. If you don’t have a special detergent for washing your sweater at hand, it is better to give preference to regular hair shampoo.

At what temperature should I wash a wool sweater?

An important washing condition is the water temperature. It should not go beyond 25–30 ℃. When exposed to cold or hot water, the hair shrinks.

Items should be washed and rinsed at the same water temperature. If you dip a wool sweater alternately in warm and cold water, it will shrink.

Handwash

It is advisable to wash a woolen sweater or jacket by hand without using force. When cleaning by hand, dirt is removed as delicately as possible. It is important not to squeeze or twist the product.

Rules for hand washing wool items:

1. The cleaning agent should be dissolved in advance in water heated to 30 ℃.
2. Before dipping the sweater into water, you need to turn it inside out.
3. If the sweater has buttonholes, they should be basted to prevent stretching.
4. It is strictly not recommended to soak the product in water; it is better to start washing immediately.
5. The sweater should be carefully immersed in the soap solution and squeezed with gentle movements until the stain disappears.
6. Before and after rinsing, the product must be lightly squeezed and wait until the water drains.

It is recommended to spin a washed wool sweater as follows:

1. place the product on the bottom of a bathtub or large bowl, having previously installed it at an angle;
2. Gently press the top of the sweater so that the water drains out,
3. pour out or drain water;
4. leave for 15 minutes to drain and drain the rest of the water.

If the sweater is not dirty, but has absorbed an unpleasant odor, then you can simply ventilate it by hanging it on the balcony.

Machine washable

If you don’t have the time or desire to wash a wool sweater by hand, you can use an automatic washing machine. In this case, you should set the hand wash or delicate wash mode with minimal spin or no spin at all (some models have a special “Wool” mode).

Rules for washing woolen items in a washing machine:

1. Acrylic and semi-synthetic products tolerate machine washing on a delicate cycle, which cannot be said about clothes made from natural wool. Therefore, before washing, it is better to pay attention to the label, which contains recommendations for caring for the item of clothing.
2. The temperature of the washing water in the machine should not exceed 30 ℃.
3. Do not wash wool clothes with items made from other, coarser materials.
4. Washing delicate fabrics should not last longer than 40 minutes.

How to dry woolen items?

Drying woolen clothes in a machine is strictly prohibited, as this can cause severe shrinkage and deformation. It is better to lay out the washed product horizontally on a special drying rack. It is recommended to place a terry towel under the sweater to absorb excess moisture.

So, washing woolen clothes is not the easiest task. But it is enough to remember just a few rules so that your favorite thing becomes cleaner, but does not lose its shape and original color.