When winter arrives, everyone loves their knits, and they stay inside knitwears to be warm. But how often have you discarded your knitted items because they began to stink, pill, or stretch out of shape? What was that? With appropriate care, your favourite women’s knitwear can last for many years. Although most knitwear manufacturers opt for the safer route regarding knitwear care guidelines, it’s not particularly frightening. First, it is helpful to comprehend what all these cryptic symbols and coded instructions represent. And the most beneficial action you can take for yourself, and your clothing is to Read Labels. It is common to view care labels as useful ideas rather than precise maintenance requirements. This action could potentially destroy your favourite sweater.
Washing, Drying and Ironing
Before caring for cloth, it is helpful to understand them. Women’s knitwear is created by interlacing yarns, which imparts elasticity and texture. Knitwear has a less rigid structure than woven materials, requiring different care. And MOST Sweaters generally can be put in the washing machine.
However, bear in mind that this applies only to front-loading machines that offer cold water gentle wash. Cotton, cashmere, and silk should be laundered after two to three wears since natural fibres retain more dust and sweat. Wool and synthetic mixes, such as polyester and acrylic, can be laundered after wearing five times since they are more resilient and don’t become soiled quickly.
Below are the essential guidelines to follow:
- Turn your garment inside out before washing.
- On the delicate cycle, you can wash the knitwear pieces in a mesh pouch for five minutes. Take it away after five minutes. If you wish to wash many items at once, place each item in a different mesh bag.
- You can still hand-wash your favourite sweaters in cool water if you do not have a washer with a low setting or a scheduled wash mode.
- Use specialised laundry detergent or baby shampoo for hand washing!
- Do not immerse it for longer than a few moments.
- Squeeze or press gently to remove excess water; do not wring!
- Flatten to dry.
- If necessary, iron the garment while it is still inside out.
- The correct technique to dry knits is carefully squeezing the excess water and then laying them straight on a towel. They can be rolled like sleeping bags to absorb excess moisture effectively. Then, put them flat on a surface to dry. Never squeeze! When working with knits, you must also avoid the heat, including hot water, hot drying, and a hot iron. And when ironing, you should use the least heat setting possible.
Fix Pilling
Irrespective of the quality, all women’s knitwear will pill, and that is impossible to prevent. Short or loose fibres on the face of cloth tend to tangle, resulting in pilling. Fabrics with many loose fibres, such as cashmere and angora, are susceptible to fabric pilling. Meanwhile, regular cleaning eliminates odour, and it also restores fibres and colour and, maybe unexpectedly, helps prevent pilling. However, there’s a way to get rid of the fluff and save your knits. It may appear frightening and unconventional, but it works. Are you prepared for this? Shaving is the trick to repairing pilling on knits! It is not as absurd as it may sound, so grab a sharp razor and (carefully) run it across the surface of any of your knit items to eliminate the lumps and balls of fluff.
You may extend their lives by taking the effort to care for your knitwear and sweaters properly.
