How to wash a wool sweater in a washing machine and by hand, how to properly dry wool products, can it be ironed?

Wool sweaters never go out of style. They are comfortable, cozy and warm very well in the cold season. The practicality of wool is undeniable, but caring for such things is not as easy as we would like.

In order for a sweater to retain its appearance, it must not only be worn carefully, but also washed and dried correctly.

Read the article on how to properly wash a wool sweater without ruining it.

The vagaries of wool products

When your favorite warm wool sweater requires washing, you need to familiarize yourself with the care instructions provided by the manufacturer. They are indicated on a label on the product, which is attached to the inside.

When washing woolen clothes, you must follow strict processing rules. Otherwise the item may be damaged.

If the manufacturer has not prescribed any prohibitions, then a wool pullover can and should be washed when it gets dirty . For such things, only delicate influence is permissible.

Most washable sweaters are recommended to be hand washed. This is especially important for products knitted by hand and with loose weave of threads. The rules for washing woolen items also apply to items containing wool in percentage terms.

A lot of useful information about washing sweaters can be found here.

Dry, iron, fix mistakes

Remember that even after proper washing, a wool item can lose its shape during drying. You should not hang the product on a clothesline and use clothespins - the item will be deformed.

Wool products are dried strictly horizontally, neatly straightened. The place should not be illuminated by the sun; the use of heating devices is completely excluded.

Occasional errors are easy to fix. Just pull the unfolded item in all directions to stretch it a little. But if you need to do the opposite, assemble the product and place it near a heat source. The method is emergency, and it is allowed to be used in exceptional cases when the question of further use of the sweater arises.

Most often, dry wool does not require ironing. But if necessary, using an iron is not prohibited. The temperature for this procedure is indicated on the label, but generally accepted rules can be used:

Before ironing, the woolen item must be completely dry;
the product is turned inside out; when ironing, gauze or a cotton rag is used;
The iron is not “pulled”, but “lowered”. This precaution will help maintain the shape of the sweater;
a good solution is a steam generator. With its help, you can remove wrinkles, refresh wool items, and even perform light cleaning.

Selecting a detergent

In order for a sweater to survive washing without unpleasant consequences, the detergent must be chosen correctly. It should not contain chlorine or alkali , and the packaging should indicate permission to use the product for washing wool clothes.

For such products, gel detergents are best suited. Powder is less preferable - it dissolves less well in water, is more difficult to rinse out of fibers and can form an insoluble precipitate.

In the absence of a special detergent, when washing by hand, you can replace it with regular shampoo.

How to wash a wool sweater by hand

Hand washing is the most appropriate and optimal method for this material. However, as in washing any things, you also need to adhere to some rules:

a wool sweater should not be soaked;
before washing, the item is turned inside out;
Washing is carried out in a large amount of water because... Woolen items absorb moisture quite a lot;
water temperature no higher than 30 degrees;
Since an alkaline environment is contraindicated for wool, the use of soap is not permissible here. Also, to preserve the item, if possible, you can soften and oxidize the water using improvised or special means;
during the washing process, strong friction and twisting of them is unacceptable, wrinkling is also not advisable, as this may damage the fibers, which will lead to shapelessness of the product;
Rinsing the sweater should be done in water at the same temperature as when washing. Rinse should be repeated several times;
You cannot wring out a wool sweater; excess water should drain naturally. You can also press a terry towel to absorb moisture, and then send it to dry.

Hand wash instructions

Hand washing is the most reliable way to wash a sweater.

For washing you will need:

a large container in which the sweater will fit completely;
detergent intended for wool;
a pair of terry towels;
plenty of water for washing and rinsing;
fabric softener;
a horizontal plane on which the item can be laid out for further drying.

Procedure:

Inspect the sweater. If there are defects on it, for example, stains, holes, then they need to be eliminated before washing.
The product is turned inside out.
Water at a temperature of +30ºС is poured into the prepared container. For mixed yarn, and if the manufacturer allows this possibility, the temperature may be higher.
Dissolve the detergent in water according to the instructions on the package.
Lower the sweater into the container so that it is completely submerged in water.
The washing process should take place without intense friction - squeezing and moving the item.
The collar and cuffs are carefully processed separately.
The soapy water is drained and the item itself is wrung out.
Rinse the sweater several times in clean water.
During the last rinse, fabric softener is dissolved in water.
They take out the sweater and gently wring it out. To do this, it is convenient to wrap the item in a terry towel. The product cannot be twisted.
In the prepared area, lay out a second terry towel and lay out the washed jumper.

We follow the general rules

To prevent your favorite woolen sweater from stretching out or, conversely, shrinking during the next wash, you should remember a few rules:

Wool should be washed as rarely as possible, because such products do not really like contact with water, so washing should be avoided if possible. If your sweater has absorbed foreign odors, the best way to refresh it is to hang it outside or on a balcony in dry weather, where it will quickly ventilate under the influence of fresh air.
You should not pre-soak the item. If you do not want your wool sweater to shrink or become permanently deformed, do not leave it lying in water, start washing immediately.
The water temperature must be stable. With sudden changes, the wool becomes deformed and changes its size. Remember that washing and rinsing are carried out at the same temperature.
To prevent the sweater from stretching and shrinking, it should not be washed in either cold or extremely hot water. The ideal temperature in this case would be 30 degrees.

How to do it in a washing machine?

Washing woolen clothes in an automatic machine is allowed in rare cases. This is usually permissible for items made from mixed materials, which contain wool along with synthetics.

But even if such processing is allowed, you should act carefully:

Prepare the sweater as for hand washing.
Place the product in a special mesh bag. If it is not there, put it in a non-fading pillowcase, the hole of which must be fastened or tied.
Place the bag in the drum.
Pour detergent into the container of the machine.
On the panel, select one of the modes: “wool”, “delicate”.
Make sure the temperature is set to +30ºС.
Set the spin to minimum, or better yet, turn it off completely.
Turn off the dryer.
Start the machine.
After the end of the cycle, the sweater must be immediately taken out, wrung out, as in hand washing, wrung out and placed horizontally to dry.

If the manufacturer prohibits machine washing of a sweater, this rule should not be violated.

Machine washable - pros and cons

If for some reason you cannot wash your clothes by hand, you will have to take a chance and put the sweater in the machine. Of course, you should be prepared for the troubles we described above. But if your machine is equipped with a wool washing function, it means that the manufacturers have taken into account all the subtleties of caring for delicate threads. Therefore, choose the mode for wool and wait for the result.

In addition to detergent, be sure to add conditioner. Do not put other things in the drum and choose the mode responsibly. To prevent the sweater from stretching, you need to pay attention not only to the washing regime, but also to the duration of washing - ideally it should not exceed 40 minutes.

Frequent use of the automatic machine noticeably deteriorates the material of the sweater, and if you want it to look neat for a long time, it is better to do this only in emergency cases.

What is possible and what is not?

If you plan to wash warm woolen items by hand, then each of them must be processed separately.

When washing in a machine, it is possible to load several items into the drum at once if they meet the following conditions:

do not shed;
have a similar color and composition;
all together fill the drum no more than 2/3.

Each item must be placed in a separate mesh bag before washing.

Jeans and other items made from coarse fabrics should not be sent for washing together with pullovers . When operating the washing machine, they will create additional unnecessary friction, which can lead to the formation of pills and stimulate rapid wear of the fabric.

What should you not do with a sweater when washing?

photo: kerrywoollenmills.ie

Once your sweater gets dirty and asks to be cleaned, you should NOT:

throw it in the washer or dryer with the rest of your clothes. Such treatment can lead to premature wear and deformation of the sweater;
send warm clothes to the dry cleaner. The chemicals that will be used there are quite aggressive towards delicate wool.

How to prevent something from shrinking?

Natural wool has a delicate texture and quickly responds to mistakes made during washing. High temperatures will cause shrinkage in almost all cases.

If at the same time the product was also subjected to intense mechanical stress (for example, friction), then the material may not just shrink, but become matted. It will be impossible to restore such a thing.

If the goal is to slightly reduce the size of a pullover that has stretched while being worn, then this can be done during washing . Contrary to the manufacturer’s recommendations, the water is heated to +50ºС.

The temperature is not raised higher. The sweater is dipped, kept for 5 minutes, and removed from the water. After spinning, the item is dried flat.

When exposing a product to high temperatures, you cannot be 100% sure that the item will shrink exactly as needed . There is a possibility that the experiment will fail.

If the sweater does shrink, read here about ways to restore the product. If the item is stretched, this is the place for you.

If you need to “shrink” the sweater...

Hot water (50–60 degrees) will help achieve the goal. You won't need anything other than that. Just don’t hang something that is already clean, otherwise it will, on the contrary, stretch . Dry the jacket in a horizontal position. Contrast can also be helpful in this case. Wash the sweater in hot water and then place it in a bowl of cold water. If the difference exceeds 20 degrees, the product will fit exactly.

Important! We need to maintain order. Hot water should flow first, and only then cold water.

Third method: long-term drying on a radiator. In this case, the thing should not hang down. Organize everything so that the product warms up evenly, but at the same time hangs.

How to dry?

The plasticity and pliability of wool increases when wet. Wet wool yarn can become deformed, which immediately affects the appearance of the sweater.

Careful drying carried out in natural conditions will help to avoid problems.

The freshly washed item is squeezed out of excess water, wrapped in a terry towel . It is strictly forbidden to twist the thing.

After the item is wrung out, it must be carefully laid out on a horizontal surface, covered with a terry towel or flannel folded in several layers.

A special folding dryer, which is a mesh well stretched over a frame, will be a useful acquisition . Such a device will provide good ventilation both below and above, allowing things to dry faster and better.

When drying sweaters, it is advisable to maintain low humidity and good ventilation. As the towel gets wet, it needs to be replaced with a dry one, and the sweater itself needs to be turned over.

For this:

A diaper or gauze is placed on top of the not dried product.
The sweater is rolled up with a roller.
They remove him.
The towel is replaced with a new one.
The sweater is rolled out again, turning the other side up. In this case, you should avoid any distortions that may remain forever after the item dries.
The gauze is removed.

If it is necessary to achieve the effect of slight shrinkage, the item is slightly shirred.

During the drying process, you should avoid exposure to direct sunlight , and you should not try to speed up the process by using open fire and heating devices.

In addition, it is forbidden to dry a wet sweater on a trempel or by throwing it over a rope. Such rash actions can lead to stretching of the product, loss of shape and attractiveness.

Ironing Features

Typically, woolen products are not ironed, and ironing is recommended in very extreme cases. If the manufacturer provides ironing, it should be done this way:

iron the item only when it is completely dry;
Turn the product inside out before ironing;
you can use slightly damp gauze, this will help avoid shine;
the iron should slide without pressure, gently and without pulling the material;
The ironing temperature should be observed; modern models of irons are equipped with functions such as “woolen items”, which sets the device to a certain suitable temperature. If the iron does not have such modes, you should look at the hint on the label of the item you need to iron.

If you lay out your sweater correctly while still drying, you will most likely not have to iron it.

To iron or not?

Not every wool sweater can be ironed. Information about this must be indicated on the label.

What woolen items should not be ironed under any circumstances:

with relief volumetric patterns (braids, cones, etc.);
from mohair;
from angora;
some designer models;
having leather inserts, etc.

To smooth out a wrinkled product with a smooth, uniform knit:

The iron is set to a non-hot temperature (up to +150ºС).
The item is laid out on the ironing board.
Apply moistened gauze to the sweater.
The movements of the iron should be light, without pressure.
You should not keep its sole in one place.
You must act quickly and carefully.
Lay the sweater on a horizontal surface until completely dry after ironing.

If the item has shrunk slightly, then at the ironing stage it can be stretched a little.

A wrinkled item can be straightened and fluffed using a steamer rather than an iron. To process a completely dry sweater, hang it on hangers and gently apply steam, moving the nozzle from top to bottom.

After this, things are given time to dry and cool, and only after that the sweater can be worn.

Some tips

In order to check wool for color fastness, you just need to cut a piece of thread and soak it in warm water and blot it with a light cloth.
To prevent possible shedding, add 2 teaspoons of table vinegar to the water before washing.
Delicate items such as angora wool, alpaca wool or mohair items are best washed with shampoo and rinsed very well and repeatedly.
When washing wool, the water needs to be changed much more often, and not when it gets dirty.
There is no need to use chemicals to bleach or remove light stains on wool items. By pouring citric acid onto a certain area, leaving it for 40 minutes and moisturizing it, you can achieve the desired result.
To soften hard water, add a couple of teaspoons of baking soda and the same amount of vinegar. Avoid getting these substances in pure form on your fur.
If you need to stretch a shrunken item, you need to sprinkle it with water and use an iron to gently stretch the fabric and smooth it out. Treatment with a steamer can also help, giving the product the required size at the same time.
Woolen items should not be washed for more than 40 minutes.

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A cozy and practical wool sweater is sure to be in everyone's wardrobe.

Warm wool is irreplaceable in our climate, but during washing it often presents unpleasant surprises.

Having taken the item out of the washing machine, you may be surprised to discover that from now on these clothes are only suitable for a doll or, conversely, have become several sizes larger. Those who don't want to find themselves in this situation need to figure out how to wash a wool sweater so that it lasts a long time.

So, how to treat woolen items so that they retain their appearance longer? How to properly wash and store them? These tips are for the housewife to take note of.

To prevent your favorite woolen sweater from stretching out or, conversely, shrinking during the next wash, you should remember a few rules:

Doesn't like wool:

✔ Frequent washing

Woolen fabrics are less likely to get dirty. The smells of sweat, food and smoke quickly disappear from them. It is enough to hang a woolen sweater on the balcony, and dry the dirty stain and carefully brush it off. Frequent washing leads to the fact that the item loses its softness, falls off, can stretch or, conversely, shrink.

✔ Long soakings

As they say, long farewells mean extra tears. If you decide to wash your favorite sweater (and this is by no means contraindicated for woolen items), do not leave it in water for a long time. Otherwise, the jacket will lose its shape and stretch.

✔ Sudden temperature changes during washing

For example, washing at +45°C and rinsing at +10°C is the easiest way to ensure that the sweater shrinks and safely moves into the children's wardrobe.

The maximum temperature for washing woolen items is +30°C. It is best to wash such clothes by hand, with a special detergent or regular shampoo.

For more determined housewives, use the “Delicate Wash” mode in the washing machine. In any case, to be on the safe side, set the temperature control to minimum. For softness - during the last rinse, use a special conditioner for woolen items.

When washing by hand, washing and rinsing are carried out at the same temperature.

✔ Merciless spin

Wool loves tenderness. When washing, never rub or twist it - otherwise it will become matted and deformed. All you can do is just lightly squeeze it in soapy water.

After rinsing, we recommend lightly squeezing the water out with your hands (without twisting!), then rolling it up in a terry towel and kneading it a little.

Dry flat on a towel or sheet. Hangers are not suitable for this.

✔ Heat and humidity

In the bathroom, where it is always damp, wool dries slowly. Hot radiators and the sun are also not the best choice for drying a wet sweater - it can lose its shape.

Optimal conditions are normal room temperature.

✔ Hot iron

Wool knitwear hardly wrinkles. Sometimes it is enough to hang a jacket on a hanger - and after a while the crumpled folds will disappear from it. For speed, you can lightly sprinkle it with water.

If you still need to iron, be careful not to burn your favorite item. Iron items using the “Wool” setting with steam or through a damp cloth.

✔ Hangers

Woolen items should be stored folded on a shelf - long periods of time on the hanger can cause the shoulders and sleeves to stretch greatly.

Be sure to put a moth repellent next to a stack of woolen items - lavender, tobacco, and dry orange peels will help.

✔ Mustard instead of powder

According to the most ancient tradition, woolen (and, by the way, silk) items are washed in a solution of dry mustard.

Pour a handful of mustard powder into 2-3 liters of boiling water, let cool to 30 degrees, and then foam. The resulting solution can perfectly wash your favorite sweater.

Rinse with ammonia: add a teaspoon of the product to 10 liters of water. The product will be very soft after drying.

A spoonful of vinegar added while rinsing the item will help fix the color.

We wash the product by hand

How to wash a wool sweater without damaging it? Of course, only manually. As already mentioned, even the most delicate machine wash cycle is associated with changes in water temperature. Therefore, one mistake when choosing a program - and you can say goodbye to the thing. When washing by hand, you can control the entire process yourself.

Here is a simple algorithm of actions:

Turn the product inside out.
Pour water with a temperature no higher than 30 degrees into the washing container, add liquid detergent. Shampoo is great for particularly fine coats.

Lather up the detergent. Immerse the sweater in the detergent solution and begin washing.

You should not rub or excessively wrinkle fluffy clothes, otherwise the wool will mat and lose its attractive appearance.
It is enough to just slightly wrinkle the fabric.

After this, rinse the product with wool conditioner.

Machine washable - pros and cons

If for some reason you cannot wash your clothes by hand, you will have to take a chance and put the sweater in the machine.

Of course, you should be prepared for the troubles described above. But if your machine is equipped with a wool washing function, it means that the manufacturers have taken into account all the subtleties of caring for delicate threads.

Therefore, choose the mode for wool.

In addition to detergent, be sure to add conditioner. Do not put other things in the drum and choose the mode responsibly. To prevent the sweater from stretching, you need to pay attention not only to the washing regime, but also to the duration of washing - ideally it should not exceed 40 minutes.

Frequent use of the automatic machine noticeably deteriorates the material of the sweater, and if you want it to look neat for a long time, it is better to do this only in emergency cases.

We take into account important nuances

If you value an item and do not want it to become unusable, be sure to pay attention to some important features related to hair care:

If stains of dirt appear on a wool sweater, do not wash it immediately - it is better to dry the stained areas and try to remove them with a dry brush;
other stains can be removed with a mixture of a small amount of vinegar, ammonia, salt and water. Mix these ingredients in equal proportions and soak a piece of cotton cloth in the resulting solution.
Then use this swab to blot the stain several times.
Under no circumstances should you rub stains, so as not to stretch the sweater and it will become covered with pills;
for products made from angora, it is better to use hair shampoo - this will keep the wool fluffy for a long time;
Water acidified with lemon juice will help return a product that has turned yellow over time to its original color;
To avoid stretching the buttonholes on a woolen jacket during washing, they must be lightly swept before the procedure.

Let's start drying

Even if the washing went well, the product can very easily stretch during drying. Improper drying is the main mistake of young housewives. Never hang wool on a clothesline. Moisture flowing to the bottom deforms the product.

If you use clothespins, the result will be even worse. Woolen clothing will stretch greatly when hung.

Woolen items are dried only in a horizontal position, straightened out.

Immediately after washing, place the damp sweater on a wooden or plastic tray located above the bathtub. Let the water drain well without additional spinning.

While the water is draining, prepare a suitable place for further drying of the product. This can be a table covered with moisture-absorbing fabric, or any other horizontal surface.

To make the product dry faster, use a terry towel: Lay the sweater on a terry towel, being careful not to stretch it.

Then roll it into a sausage. Wait a while until the towel gets wet.

After this, unwind the roller and repeat the entire procedure again, but with another, dry towel.

Further drying of woolen items is carried out in a horizontal position, laid out on a flat and even surface.

The best option is to carefully lay the item on a folding drying rack. Don't forget to lay out a terry towel first: the moisture will disappear faster.

Rescue procedures

You can try to eliminate possible flaws:

If you pull wet clothes laid out for drying well in different directions, you can stretch your favorite sweater that has shrunk in this way. For more information, see How to stretch a shrunken item
At the same time, if necessary, you can shrink the product - to do this, you need to gather it up and then put it to dry next to a heat source.

Important! Drying wool in the open rays of the sun or on a radiator is prohibited!

Of course, these are emergency methods, and you can try them in a situation where the question is being decided - to write off the item at the dacha or continue to wear it.

Ironing the product correctly

In most cases, once you've finished drying your wool item, it won't require ironing. However, if necessary, you can easily use an iron.

Almost every item has a label indicating the washing and ironing temperature. If such a tag is worn out or completely missing, do not worry, there are a number of rules for wool:

a woolen jacket can only be ironed when it is completely dry;
Before the procedure, the product must be turned inside out;
To prevent shiny stripes from appearing on clothes, they should be ironed through a piece of damp cotton cloth or gauze;
The iron should not be “pulled” over the woolen fabric; it is better to simply “lower” it onto the fabric - this will help the material retain its shape;
The optimal temperature for ironing a product made from natural wool is usually indicated by a special mark on the iron.

I hope that this information will help you successfully master all the secrets of caring for woolen items, so that they will delight you with their impeccable shape and cleanliness for a long time.

By the way, a new household invention - a steam generator - is a great help in caring for woolen products. Refresh, remove unnecessary caked folds, even clean - all this is possible with a smart device. Therefore, do not try to wash sweaters in a machine; as you can see, there are more gentle ways. based on materials from www.wday.ru, hozsekretiki.ru

How to wash woolen items

Note to the owner:

How to wash a down jacket

How to remove pills from clothes?

Caring for a wool sweater

Grooming rules

To avoid pilling and keep the item fluffy and beautiful after drying, comb it a little with a special brush.
If the wool needs to shrink a little, wet it a little and then lay it to dry near a heat source.
Vinegar and baking soda are the best natural anti-shedding products.
To prevent the material from stretching, do not wash or rub it.
The peculiarity of removing stains from knitted items is that they must be cleaned before washing. Dirt can be dried and brushed off, grease and other stains using special products applied with a soft cloth.

With careful care, woolen items can last a very long time, delighting and warming their owner.

DIY LG washing machine repair
The reason why the drum in the washing machine does not spin is:

Whitening

Owners of products who accidentally spilled a drink or sauce on the item are looking for how to bleach a sweater.

In addition, over time, a white sweater may turn yellow. This occurs due to the use of incorrect detergents, frequent drying on heating devices or in direct sunlight.

How to whiten:

Wash the item in cool water using laundry soap. How to wash it correctly: completely soak the sweater with soap, leave for 5 minutes and rinse. Then soak for 2 hours in a soda solution.
You can bleach a sweater using peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide in a volume of 100 ml is diluted in 5 liters of water. The item is immersed in the solution for 1 hour.
The pullovers are soaked in salty liquid. 40 grams of salt are dissolved in 10 liters of water. Soak the item for 1 hour, rinse 2-3 times.
Sodium hyposulfite. How to bleach: dilute the powder with water, take a plastic bag, pour the liquid into it and place a sweater inside. The bag must be closed, after 30 minutes the sweater is rinsed.

Woolen items can be bleached using various home or pharmacy products. The main thing is to know when to stop.

You can also use chemical bleaches. This method is less safe, but also effective.

Any product that bears the “wool” designation is suitable for wool. You are allowed to use such tools as Vanish, Amway, Persol, Help.

Useful recommendations from experts

To everyone who values their wool sweater, we will reveal a number of secrets that will help in caring for the product.

If large dirty stains appear, it is recommended to dry them and scrub them with a dry bristle brush before washing. Do not work too hard to prevent pellets from forming.

Any yellowness that appears can be easily removed by soaking the sweater in water to which lemon juice has been added.

Has the product gone up a whole size? Don’t despair - soak it briefly in water at a temperature of fifty degrees. When only certain parts are stretched, wash only them. The time for the procedure is no more than ten minutes.

To speed up the drying process, experienced housewives offer a simple method. The sweater from which the water has drained is shaken and folded lengthwise. In this form, it is hung on the hanger crossbar, bent twice. After some time, the product is shaken thoroughly and returned to dry again, straightened and folded as before.

If there is a need to stretch the product a little, put it on a rope. But there is no firm guarantee that you will be able to achieve the desired effect.

Washing with mustard powder will help maintain the black shade of the sweater.