How do you care for your woolen clothes without damaging them?
Warm, soft and fluffy, wool has everything it takes to help us get through the winter. But it is still necessary to know how to preserve and maintain it. Discover all the tips, from washing to catching up with felted wool.
Is there a sweeter feeling than putting on a pull in laine new, clean, fluffy and warm? As the temperatures drop, it's with joy that we treat ourselves to a new knit or that we find our favorite cuddly sweaters… Provided that we took good care of them last season. Because our woolen garments require a special treatment in order to preserve their fibre, even if the latter has the advantage of not retaining odours. Before proceeding to the washing stage, it is therefore advisable to read and follow the instructions on the garment's care label.
How to machine wash wool?
When the time comes to wash your sweater or dress containing wool or 100% wool like merino , you can opt for machine washing, by selecting the 'by hand' cycle. To do this, use a detergent or shampoo suitable for wool, or even a neutral and mild detergent recommended by Woolmark. Never use bleach in a machine, whether it is bleach Bleach or hydrogen peroxide. If you want to add fabric softener or fabric softener, be sure to use as little as possible as these products can cause pilling after several washes. For sheep's wool, you have the option of washing in the washing machine at 30°C and in delicate mode.
How to wash wool by hand?
For more fragile type wools angora or mohair , it is preferable to perform a hand wash cold . Soak the garment in lukewarm (no more than 30 degrees) or cold water for a few minutes without stirring or changing temperature between washing and rinsing. As for the detergent, opt for a product dedicated to hand washing and special wool, or Marseille's soap .
If your wool has a little young , the citron jus can be very effective in re-whitening it, once mixed with water, at the rate of one lemon per liter of water. You can also use hydrogen peroxide using a glass of liquid when rinsing. Finally, you can opt for the bicarbonate of soda to be used in the rinsing water, by diluting it in lukewarm water.
Then comes the drying stage. So now is the time to make it clear that you shouldn't never wring or twist a woolen garment , at the risk of damaging the mesh and deforming it. It is therefore placed on a towel flat, in the open air and away from a source of heat, in order to prevent the wool from shrinking.
How often to wash your woolen clothes?
If some tend to put their clothes in the wash after wearing them for a day, for wool, you have to take into account the use you make of it. Do you wear your sweater next to your skin? It therefore risks being in contact with your perspiration, which will be absorbed by the woolen material, which will lead to the proliferation of bacteria and therefore the development of a bad smell. We therefore pass his woolen garment in the wash after one and only use .
If you wear a sweater or a T-shirt underneath, you can wait 3-4 times before washing it, unless you sweat a lot. Between each port, you just have to let your garment air out in the open air.
Certain woolen garments such as coats, suits, suits, cannot and should not be washed in a regular washing machine, which is usually specified on the care label . It is therefore imperative to bring it to your pressing .
How to catch up on a wool garment that has shrunk?
If you had your mind elsewhere and your favorite woolen sweater has slipped into the pile of sportswear washed at 40°C, there is a great risk that it has suffered from its passage through the washing machine. Wool, a very fragile natural fiber, will have shrunk and will therefore become felted. Do not panic, there are a few methods to get your precious back to its former form.
- Take a basin that you will fill with lukewarm or even cold water, to which you can add a tablespoon of conditioner per liter of water. Soak your sweater in it for about four hours, while hanging out the wool from time to time. Then rinse with clean water and add a teaspoon of white vinegar. Wring out and let your sweater dry between two terry towels, then lay flat on a dry towel.
- Another trick, immerse your sweater in a basin of vinegar water overnight, at the rate of a glass of white vinegar per liter of water. Rinse with clear water, wring out and sponge your sweater between two terry towels before leaving it to dry flat, again, on a dry towel.
- You can also try to recover your sweater using only an iron with a program suitable for wool. Gently iron it, stretching the stitch little by little, until the sweater regains its initial volume.
