Let those soft knits remain soft and long-lasting

While I am typing these, there is actually  a pile of sweater waiting for their TLC session before I store them away till the next sweater weather trip. I thought that before tackling the task that I will start by sharing with you my trusted and simple “how-to”, the same way my mother did with me years ago. As you might know by now, at THE FIFTH COLLECTION, we strongly believe that investing in good pieces is as equally important as taking care of those pieces. 

YOU WILL NEED 

• A sink or basin (big enough to contain one sweater)

• A mild detergent made for yarn

• 2 x white towels (white is a must so you can make sure there is no colour transfer)

• Drying rack

• Steamer (Optional)

• Sweater comb (Optional)

• A block of time

DON’T! 

As you know wool and cashmere are hair ,and just like your own hair, they need some gentle care and nourishing. This is why even if the label says dry clean only or machine washable, I only trust hand washing. Dry cleaning can be extremely harsh for soft yarns and they will likely come back stiff. As for the washing machine, unless you are 1000% sure of your machine and your skills, I will suggest that you stay away from it. 

As rule of thumb wool and cashmere don’t do well with heat, so NO tumble dry and definitely NO ironing.

The best part about this is that you don’t have to overdo it to keep your favourite and often expensive purchases as soft as on their first day with you. Washes should be kept to the minimum and for the rest of the time, you simply air them between wears. 

SO, HOW HOW? 

In a basin/sink mix a bit of detergent with tepid/cold water then submerge your sweater in it. Soak it for 10 minutes followed by gently massaging it to help the detergent spread through the fiber. Be gentle while doing so as yarn is in its more fragile state when wet. After that, it is time to rinse with tepid/cold water only while continuing with the gentle massage. Once your sweater is well-rinsed, it is time to remove the excess water gently before air drying it. 

To remove the extra water, I like to use the floor of my shower. Simply spread one of the white towel on the floor, place your sweater on it, and then gently roll the towel. The towel and rolling movement will help remove the excess water from your freshly washed sweater. Do not wring your wools and cashmere to remove the water as this can damage it. 

After that, it is time to prep it to be air dried. 

Place your other towel on the rack in order to create a base or simply purchase a sweater drying rack (I got mine at Daiso) and place your sweater flat on it. Finally, it is time to reshape it. 

Reshaping is very easy as you know water creates weight and therefore can stretch the yarn. By laying it flat, you are just giving back it is original dimension to your garment - it is also now that you should make sure it is as flat as possible as it will dry in the position you give it. 

And let it dry naturally. 

Once it is completely dry, if there are some wrinkles, you can easily get rid of them with a steamer used at a good distance. Having said that, if you did a good job at reshaping it while wet, you won’t need to steam it. 

Never hang to dry unless you are looking for an oversized shapeless sweater dress. 

STORING

After all this hard work, and somehow rewarding work, your garment is ready to be stored. Always store it folded and not hung to avoid stretching the fiber. If you are about to store it for a long time and you are in a place where there will be chances of moths attacking, make sure you place some anti-moth product with it. I personally only use cedar and lavender oil. 

If you have any tips to share with us, please leave a comment below as we always love to hear about how our collectors take care of their treasures. And don’t forget to check what knitwear we are currently carrying in KNITWEAR COLLECTION on the site.

Best of all, you can filter by your favourite yarn.