How not to ruin your knitwear – from shrinkage to moth holes
Oh no, I thought as I reached into the washing machine last week. It’s happened again. Rushing to put laundry on, I accidentally threw a cashmere jumper into a cold wash – and the normal, adult-human-sized jumper came out just the right size for my 10-year-old.
Shrinkage is just one of the ways knitwear can go wrong… It’s jumper season, and for many of us, unpacking woollens unworn since spring can raise the spectre of knitwear disasters past. There may be shrunken items we feel too guilty to part with, fine-gauge styles with tiny snags, bobbles galore, or – whisper it – mothholes.
Snafus occurring outside of our control are discouraging enough. Avoidable mistakes are downright frustrating. When knitwear is a casualty of another’s conduct… shouting may be indicated.
“We get quite a few husbands getting in touch with us saying, ‘I’m in so much trouble, I’ve just shrunk my wife’s favourite jumper,’ and asking if they can replace it,” says Buffy Reid, founder of knitwear brand &Daughter. “That happens a lot.”
It’s never too late to resolve to do better. As we prepare to layer up for the next six months, here are 10 expert tips for how to care for your knitwear.
Wash your knitwear properly…
While most washing machines come with wool or delicate settings these days, knitwear pros still advocate cleaning jumpers in a cool hand wash with a specialist detergent (try products from The Lab Co or Cashmere Circle). Agitate gently and never wring out moisture.
If you do opt to roll the dice with a machine cycle, place jumpers into wash bags to avoid excess friction – and never, ever do as I did and throw one in on a regular cold wash. Even easy-care cycles can be iffy, because “the spin in the washing machine more than anything else is what shrinks a jumper,” Reid says. Double-check that you’ve selected the correct cycle and don’t wash too many at once.
…But not too often
“Generally wool doesn’t need washing,” says Rachel Carvell-Spedding, founder of knitwear brand Navygrey. She’s evangelical about wool’s stain- and smell-repelling properties. “It’s a breathable, technical fibre, and on the whole, people wear another layer under a wool jumper anyway.
Sure, wash the T-shirt, but the wool rarely needs washing.” The only time she recommends washing is before the big summer packdown. “You can wash it before packing it away. Though personally I don’t.”
Spot-clean, air and steam to refresh instead
But what if you splash sauce on your pale grey jumper? Simply dab or dampen the offending marks as soon as you notice them. Spot-cleaning wherever possible helps avoid unnecessary washing. A quick steam is a great way to refresh a knit without having to wash and dry it. Then, between wears, don’t be in such a hurry to put your jumper away.
“Our big thing is, wear for one, rest for two,” says Carvell-Spedding. “I know this is a bit of a nightmare because it means your bedroom can get a bit messy, but it’s good to allow knitwear to just breathe before putting it back on or putting it away.”
When you do wash: Consider conditioner
“The thing we always remind people is that wool and cashmere are natural hairs,” Reid says. “Saying that sounds a bit disgusting, so you don’t often hear that terminology, but I find it helpful to keep in mind because these fibres respond to water and washing much like our own hair does.” With that in mind, Reid recommends adding hair conditioner into the wash. “It just helps to smooth out the different bits of fleece and finesse the finish.”
Clothes Doctor ‘Protect Me’ natural moth repellent scent bag, £6.50, clothes-doctor.com; The Lab Co. cashmere and wool laundry detergent, £11, thelabco.com; Steamery Pilo 2 fabric shaver, £55, steamery.co.uk
Dry flat
Once you’ve taken the time and care to spot-clean, air, steam and hand-wash your jumpers, you’re probably ready to call it a day on knitwear maintenance. Not so fast. The final step is the most important. Always dry jumpers flat on a towel and reshape while they’re damp. Hanging a jumper over a radiator or on a drying rack can cause it to stretch or disfigure, and the tumble dryer is a shortcut to shrinkage city. Find a flat surface and be patient.
Don’t fear the debobbler
Older fabric shavers could be harsh enough to chew through knitwear. But technology has moved on and new generations of debobblers are much gentler. I like to lay a few jumpers side by size and bzzzz down the row – like batch-cooking for your jumper drawer. “People often think once a jumper start’s pilling, that’s it, it’s either low-quality or it’s ruined,” says Carvell-Spedding. “But no – it just needs a little upkeep.”
Deal with mystery holes right away
“If you see damage, repair it as soon as possible,” advises Layla Sargent, CEO and founder of care and repair platform The Seam. “It unravels so quickly that your garment could go from being able to be repaired to completely destroyed in less time than you’d think.” Invisible knitwear repair (where menders take existing yarn from the item to repair holes without any visible evidence) is The Seam’s top-booked service between October and March.
Don’t despair – repair or recycle
If a repair is too big for discreet invisible mending – or you prefer a more colourful approach – try visible mending. Lizzie David of @littlemothmends practices visible darning, using brightly coloured thread to create new designs over holey knitwear. She started about two years ago, after she stopped buying new clothes and sought ways to increase the longevity of her well-worn pieces.
“I found that if you mend something, you develop more of a bond or connection with it, and you’re much less likely to throw it away in the future.” These days David mends “a lot of moth-eaten cashmere”. Her most involved commission was fixing an Aran cardigan that belonged to the owner’s late grandmother. By the time it reached David, it was more hole than jumper. “It feels so special to be able to do that for somebody,” she says.
Toast offers free mending with a range of techniques, from sashiko repair to darning and patching to appliqué. When it comes to knitwear repairs, Swiss darning is particularly popular, says Madeleine Michell, the brand’s social conscience communications officer. “It can be used to create highly decorative patterns, as well as to subtly mend a garment,” she says. “A visible repair celebrates the beauty of imperfections, adding character to a piece of knitwear and demonstrating how the act of mending can bring a new lease of life to much-loved items.”
The brand also offers a collection of creatively mended pieces for sale through its Toast Renewed collection.
If your cashmere is truly unsalvageable, consider recycling it. Turtle Doves is a British brand that uses post-consumer cashmere jumpers to create fingerless gloves, wrist warmers and other accessories. Donate your worn-out jumpers and they’ll thank you with a voucher. See also: Cashmere Circle’s recycling scheme.
Store with care
By now you know to fold, not hang, your knitwear. But where you fold it is important, too. “What I did once and will never do again is to put my knitwear in a storage container under the bed,” says &Daughter’s Reid. “Under the bed, and wherever there’s a lot of dust, moths can thrive.”
Dedicate a shelf or drawer to folded knitwear. If you aren’t going to wear a jumper for some time, place it in a breathable storage bag. Maybe with a sachet of lavender tucked in. Along with its alleged moth-repellent properties, it’ll ensure that your knitwear smells as joyous as it feels when you unfold it.
Use the off-season for maintenance
Audit your knitwear before you pack it away for the summer. That way, you can catch and deal with any issues before they become critical. Sending your jumpers to be refreshed or mended over the summer also prevents you from missing out on opportunities to wear favourite pieces during the cooler months.
Many brands offer repair and customisation services. Herd has a knitwear-refresh service with Cloth.Work (you can also customise pieces with embroidery), while &Daughter offers a refresh service for its own knits from January to June. Cashmere Circle has a similar service for knitwear of any origin.
