by Silva Payne

Created on: February 28, 2011   Last Updated: March 12, 2011

Sweaters made from wool need particular care when being laundered. Many people prefer to leave washing wool sweaters to the experts and drop them off at the dry cleaners with the rest of their laundry. However this can be expensive if your sweater is a favourite that you often wear. By learning how to hand wash your wool sweater and you will save money and time.

Wool is a natural fibre and has specific properties that must be taken into account when washing. Agitation, particularly when the fibres are damp or wet, causes the wool to become rough. This is often carried out deliberately to woollen fabric to cause it to become felt.

Hot water will also cause the woollen fibres to contract. This is why woollen items often shrink when washed in a conventional machine, even on a cool wash. Once the fibres have shrunk, and often felted as well in the process, your sweater will only be useful as a cushion cover or some other hand-craft project.

Now that you understand how wool reacts to the normal actions of washing, it should be easy to follow the steps below to hand wash your sweater.

Fill a bowl or sink with tepid water. This is water that is cool to the touch, around 15 degrees centigrade. Add to this a small amount of soft detergent flakes. There are several brands available that are designed specifically for washing woollen items. Make sure the flakes are fully dissolved before you add the sweater.

If your sweater has food debris on it, try and remove as much as possible as quickly as possible after the incident. Try not to leave the spill to dry on the sweater.

Put the sweater into the water. Do not rub or scrub with you hands or any other implement. Simply move the sweater around gently in the water, squeezing the water through the fibres. Try not to hold the sweater up fully out of the water as this will stretch the fibres out of shape.

After a couple of minutes, let the water drain away from the sweater, rather than removing the sweater from the water. Now add cold water and swirl around the sweater gently. Drain and repeat. You may want to add some fabric softener in the final rinse.

Now let as much water drain away as possible before you attempt to pick the sweater up. You can squash the sweater gently to push more water out of it but do not wring the sweater out as you would a cotton item.

You will need a flat space to dry your sweater; do not hang it up on a washing line or clothes horse, and absolutely do not put it into the tumble drier. You can place a towel on a counter top and gently re-shape the sweater on top of the towel. Check it every hour or so to turn the sweater over and change the towel as it becomes wet.

When completely dry, fold your sweater carefully and put it away out of direct sunlight and damp conditions.

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