Adviсe
- Plain water will help fix the situation
- An iron comes to the rescue
- Hydrogen peroxide and ammonia will come to the rescue
- How to stretch a sweater that has shrunk after washing? Put it on yourself
- What to do if your sweater is stretched
- We use hand wash
A shrunken sweater after washing is a fairly common problem. To prevent this from happening in the future, before throwing your laundry into the washing machine, you should read the label sewn on the back of the collar . The numbers and icons that are drawn on it are indicated specifically so as not to damage the fabric. Some items cannot be ironed, others cannot be washed at high temperatures, and others can only be dry cleaned. In the case of wool, which is what sweaters are most often made from, long washing at high temperatures is contraindicated for it. Optimally 30 degrees. How to stretch a sweater that has shrunk after washing? What should you do first, what will be required to correct the situation:
take water, heat the iron, pour hydrogen peroxide and ammonia, prepare your own body.
At first glance, it seems that all these “ingredients” need to be combined together and you will get a terrible cocktail, but this is not so. Each item will be used separately.
Plain water will help fix the situation
How can you stretch a woolen sweater that has shrunk after washing using water?
You should proceed in this order:
Pour water into the basin (cold). Grasp the shoulders of the sweater with your hands and submerge it in water until completely wet. The neck and shoulders will remain dry. After this, to squeeze out excess liquid, wrap the sweater in a towel for 5-10 minutes. There is no need to unscrew it manually. Now the most important thing remains - to stretch the sweater to the desired size. To do this you will have to use force, but do not overdo it so that the threads do not eventually burst. When the procedure is completed, hang the jacket to dry on a hanger.
It is more convenient to stretch a sweater on a wide horizontal surface , such as a table.
It is more convenient to stretch a sweater on a wide horizontal surface
Clothes alteration method
You can return the size of a shrunken woolen item if it was knitted yourself. It can be redrawn. The algorithm of actions is as follows:
A wool T-shirt can be split at the seams.- Each resulting individual element must be moistened with water.
- Baste the wet parts to a previously prepared dense object of the required size, for example, a piece of cardboard.
- The product must be left until completely dry.
- After the manipulations have been done, the item must be sewn back at the seams.
You can alter a woolen sweater or dress only if you have confidence in your own cutting and sewing skills. Before ripping things apart, you need to make sure that the material will not be damaged.
An iron comes to the rescue
A regular iron with a steam function will help stretch a shrunken woolen jacket. That device that once stood in your grandmother’s closet will not work, because you won’t have to iron your clothes.
Proceed in this order:
Fill the iron's water compartment with water. Dilute a tablespoon of vinegar in 1 liter of water in advance and pour the liquid into a spray bottle. Spray the sweater with it. Start steaming. It will be more convenient if you hang the jacket on hangers. Gradually stretch it to the desired size, alternating with steam treatment.
Do not touch the surface of the iron to the clothes, otherwise they will shrink even more and will no longer be restored.
How to wash a wool sweater without shrinking
If a wool sweater has shrunk, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to return it to its previous size. Therefore, it is better to properly care for a woolen item from the very beginning, so that it does not have to be revived in principle:
- To prevent clothes from shrinking, wash them only in cool water. When switching to the rinsing mode, in this case there will be no temperature difference that is dangerous for wool fibers.
- For woolen clothes, it is better to use not a standard powder, but a soft gel or even hair shampoo; it will remove light stains well and will not damage the wool fibers.
- It is recommended to dry a woolen jacket on a horizontal dryer. Clothes are hung on hangers only shortly before the end of drying in order to lightly ventilate the item.
A woolen jacket should be dried at room temperature and in a shaded place. You cannot hang clothes in the sun, on a lit balcony, next to a gas stove or oven, or on a heating radiator. Any attempts to dry the wool quickly will result in the jacket shrinking greatly and making it difficult to stretch.
Woolen items should not be dried in the sun or on a radiator.
Hydrogen peroxide and ammonia will come to the rescue
Two liquids will help return a wool sweater to its previous size after washing: ammonia, which is usually used to revive a fainting person, and hydrogen peroxide, which stops bleeding in minor cuts.
Add 2 tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide to a standard bucket of water. This is a solution for rinsing sweaters. Shake the jacket thoroughly in it and take it out, set it aside for an hour and a half, stretching it periodically. But don't go too hard so you don't overdo it. Then lay the sweater on a towel to dry completely.
How to restore a shrunken cashmere sweater? Yes, very simple! Three liquids will help make the fabric softer and more elastic: vodka, ammonia, turpentine. They should be taken in the following proportions:
vodka – 1 tablespoon, ammonia – 3 tbsp. spoons, turpentine - 1 tbsp. spoon, water - 5 liters.
Rinse the sweater thoroughly in the resulting solution. Use slightly warm water. After washing this way, the sweater will easily stretch.
Vodka, ammonia and turpentine will help stretch a wool sweater
What to do if your sweater is stretched
There are also situations when clothes do not shrink after washing, but rather stretch due to constant wear or improper care. This may be due to the wrong washing mode, the chosen product, improper drying, using an iron when it is contraindicated for the fabric, etc. Do not rush to get rid of your favorite item after it has been deformed; it can still be corrected even in advanced cases. The main thing is to approach this issue wisely.
Wool tends to stretch and shrink easily. When we are nervous, we can involuntarily, without even noticing it, pull at the hem or sleeves, which ultimately leads to distortion of the fibers. The sweater takes on an uneven shape and looks untidy. What should you do if the sleeves on your sweater are stretched?
With a poncho-type sweater, you don't have to worry about the sweater stretching
We use hand wash
Wash the sweater in cold water and lay it out to dry on a large thick towel. Give the sweater the desired shape, move the fibers on the sleeves as close to each other as possible (if they are the ones that have stretched). When the item dries, it will remain in the shape you gave it. The sweater will seem to freeze. This method is suitable for slight stretching of the fabric. In this case, it is quite possible to limit yourself to soaking only the stretched area, for example, using a spray bottle. How to wash a sweater to stretch out the sleeves?
We do everything as described above, only weights can be attached to the sleeves during drying so that they stretch to the desired length. Or lay the sweater on a towel, pull the sleeves to the desired size and press down the ends with something heavy. When the sweater dries, its shape will be retained.
We take precautions
There are several recommendations. Compliance with them will minimize the likelihood of the problem reoccurring:
- if you decide to wash in a machine, then set the mode to “100 rpm”;
- do not use cleaning products that contain alkali;
- You can’t use an iron - if ironing is unavoidable, then place a piece of gauze on top of the fabric;
- Woolen items should not be dried in direct sunlight.
On a note! Do not wear wet or slightly damp woolen items. Otherwise, you shouldn’t be surprised why your sweater or jacket shrinks.
There is no need to worry if a woolen item shrinks after washing. There are many ways you can use to solve the problem at home. They rely on delicate detergents, steam and other gentle methods. If it so happens that you cannot solve the problem yourself, you need to contact a dry cleaner. Its employees know what to do if the item shrinks after washing. If the deformation is severe, you cannot do without professional help.
What to do if your turtleneck stretches?
It happens that even expensive things lose their original appearance. It’s not always due to improper care or careless wear, sometimes it’s poor quality materials. Such a thing can hardly be saved, but if you love it with all your heart and don’t want to part with it, then it’s worth the risk. There's nothing left to lose anyway.
How to restore a stretched turtleneck? Typically these items are made from synthetic fabrics, but not all synthetics shrink. If you still decide to take a risk, then there are 2 ways: manual and machine. But both of them involve washing at high temperatures.
To restore a stretched turtleneck, you need to wash it briefly (30 minutes) at high temperature
Wash the item in the machine at the highest temperature, but choose a short cycle, no more than half an hour. Also do not forget about the spin cycle, it should be at the highest speed. This method can help, but it’s easy to overdo it with shrinking, and the jacket will shrink so much that you won’t be able to put it on.
Hand washing involves immersing it in hot water for 5-15 minutes, depending on how many sizes the item needs to be reduced. In 5 minutes of exposure to almost boiling water, the turtleneck will shrink one size; after 15 minutes, it will shrink by 1.5-2 sizes. These methods have one single, but important drawback: clothes can easily fade. Therefore, these methods are still suitable for light, dim things
Rules for washing woolen items
Remember those times when all things were washed exclusively by hand? Once upon a time, women went to the river and beat their clothes and bed linen on the stones to knock out all the dirt. Thank God, technology is ahead of us, and now all these difficult physical tricks are long gone. In our age, automatic washing machines have come that do everything for us: wash, spin, and some even iron. For woolen items, there are several rules to prevent the fabric from stretching or shrinking:
Select only woolen items; you should not mix them with other fabrics. Typically, automatic machines have a special mode for washing woolen items. If this is not the case, look for a delicate one, it does not require spinning. The water temperature should not exceed 30 degrees. It is better to wash wool sweaters by hand. First, make a soap solution by diluting powder or special. product, after this the jacket must be rinsed.
It is important to keep the water temperature at the same temperature both when washing and when rinsing. Changes will immediately negatively affect the appearance of the item.
Instead of powder, it is advisable to use special liquid products designed for washing woolen items. Under no circumstances should you wring out things like ordinary underwear, twisting them into a tight rope. Drying wool sweaters occurs in two ways: either lying on a towel, or on a hanger or clothespins on a line. If you throw a sweater over a rope, there will be a cross mark on it, and as you know, wool is not ironed.
How to prevent shrinkage?
To prevent the sweater from shrinking, you need to properly care for it. Basic recommendations:
- Choosing a detergent. It should not contain aggressive components or large amounts of surfactants. Preference is given to liquid formulations.
- Wash at a temperature no higher than 20-30 degrees.
- Refusal to spin. If the item was washed by hand, then you need to let the water drain on its own without twisting the fibers of the fabric.
Proper drying of the sweater is important. It is recommended to lay it out on a flat surface and protect it from exposure to high temperatures.
General rules for washing sweaters are discussed here.
