Caring for Woollen Garments
We wanted to write a blog that would make owning and caring for your woollen garments a breeze, so we’ve put together some of our favourite tips and tricks to help give your woollen garments the longest life possible. Wool is especially hard wearing and basically takes care of itself, therefore looking after it isn’t a particularly difficult task. By the end of this blog, you’ll be an expert!
Washing
There are a few ways you can wash your woollen garments. When possible, avoid washing the entire thing as wool generally needs less washing than other fibres. Wool is naturally self cleaning so if it’s a freshen up you’re after, just hang your woollen garment outside for a few hours and let it air out. You’ll be surprised how effective this is!
If there’s a visible stain on your woollen garment, you might want to try spot cleaning it. We recommend doing this as quickly as possible, as a new stain is easier to remove than an old one. To do this, dampen the stained area with warm water and mild wool detergent and lightly blot with a cloth – make sure not to scrub as this will damage the fibres.
If you think your woollen garment is in need of a full wash, don’t panic! You can choose to wash your woollen garment by hand or machine, just make sure to read the washing instructions on the label before chucking it in the washing machine. The best way to hand wash your garment is by turning it inside out and submerging it in lukewarm water and mild wool detergent. Let it soak for up to 10 minutes and rinse thoroughly, do this in lukewarm water and then again in cold water.
Drying
When it comes to drying your woollen garment, we recommend following a few simple steps! Once you’ve removed your garment from the water, avoid wringing it out (as tempting as it may be) and instead lie your garment flat on a towel and roll it up, this will remove any excess water without damaging the fibres. After removing any excess water, lie your garment out on a flat surface and allow it to airdry. This is the most gentle way to dry your woollen garment, you don’t want to put it in the tumble dryer, hang it up or put it on the radiator!
Storing
The best place to store your woollen garments is in a dry dark place, preferably folded up but can also be hung if that’s what you prefer. If you choose to hang your woollen garment, avoid putting it in a plastic garment bag as it’ll start to build up a lot of moisture and you don’t want that. Top tip: however you decide to store your knitwear, we’d recommend airing it out from time to time so it has time to breathe!
This is a great time to neaten up your woollen garment. Woollen garments will likely pill (bobble) at some point in their life, pilling usually happens in areas where there’s a lot of friction. If there are only a few pills, you can simply pull or snip them away. If there are a large number of pills, we’d recommend using a pilling comb or a depiller – this will cause less damage to your garment.
A great trick for stopping moths from attacking your woollen garments whilst they’re stored away is to use lavender. If you have a bit of time on your hands, you can make some of your own lavender pomanders and pop them in with your woollen garments. If not, there are a number of oils and sprays out there to buy.
MAKE A POMANDER
Hopefully after reading this blog you’re a little more confident in looking after your woollen garments. You can use these tips and tricks on handmade woollen garments or bought ones, as long as they’re woolly it doesn’t matter!
