Proven methods for stretching a wool sweater

Outerwear made of wool, drape and cashmere requires some care. First of all, such materials do not like large amounts of moisture and water, so it is not recommended to wash the products. It is better to clean a woolen, drape or cashmere coat only by dry cleaning. Before washing, be sure to read the label on the clothing to find out whether the material is washable and follow the recommendations.

If you washed something that cannot be washed, or washed clothes in the wrong cycle, your coat may shrink. As a result, after washing, clothes become one size or even slightly smaller. In addition, items made of wool, cashmere or drape can become deformed or shrink if stored improperly. For example, if the coat was stored for a long time in high humidity, at high temperatures or folded.

If you're caught in heavy rain, a wool, cashmere or drape coat can also become deformed, lose its appeal and shrink. However, there are several ways that will help return the coat to its previous appearance, shape and parameters. In this article we will look at how to stretch a coat at home.

Reasons why a woolen item may shrink

There are a number of factors that influence the fact that blouses and other knitted wardrobe items shrink:

Wrong detergents chosen. Some powders are not suitable for wool. They change the structure of the yarn. As a result, clothes fall off. To avoid this, it is better to use special powders and gels.
Rapid temperature change. The wool threads that make up a sweater or pullover shrink not because they are exposed to high water temperatures, as such, but as a result of a sharp change during the transition from the washing process to rinsing. Therefore, you cannot set the temperature above 30 degrees.
Wrong mode selected. Automatic machines usually provide the ability to wash wool clothes. You can also choose a delicate wash option.
Rough pressing and drying. You should not squeeze woolen items at high speeds. They should also be dried in a special way, without resorting to the capabilities of the washing machine itself.
Poor quality material. If the sweater is made from a bad base, it is almost impossible to avoid losing its shape during the next cleaning.

What means will ruin the thing?

When washing shrunken woolen items, do not forget to use the right products that clean and do not cause damage to the structure of the fabric. Recommendations will help:

Do not wash with powders that contain alkali. When choosing a product, carefully study the label, especially the composition;
choose liquid powders with added conditioner. It will help to give elasticity and softness to the threads during washing, and is easy to rinse. If it is not possible to select a liquid product, use a bulk product, but be sure to select one marked for woolen products;
If you wash in a washing machine, use the delicate cycle. If there is no such function, set the temperature to 30 degrees and spin to low speed;
hand washing is the best option, in which the process is completely controlled. You can add conditioners to the water or use laundry soap;

By following simple rules and recommendations during washing, the risk of shrinkage of shrunken woolen items is minimized. Otherwise, there are effective ways to stretch your favorite item.

The article has been verified by the editors

What to do if the sweater shrinks after washing

There are many ways to stretch a shrunken wool sweater.

You can return the product to its original size by placing the clothing in cold water for ten to twenty minutes. No powders or other detergents are required. After this, the sweater should be slightly wrung out and placed in a towel.

It is better to choose a terry towel

Lay the jacket flat. For this purpose, for example, a washboard or a stand laid across the bathtub is suitable.

You can even place a wet sweater on the floor by placing a folded sheet under it. Let it sit like this for half an hour.

Then, every twenty minutes, the item must be stretched so that it returns to its previous size in width and length. This must be done extremely delicately.

When returning the jacket's shape vertically, you need to grab it in the area of the seams - top and bottom. Particular care should be taken with the cuffs and neckline. Otherwise, they will lose their shape and the jacket will have to be thrown away.

An improved way to dry while stretching is to pin the sweater to the fabric on which it is lying. To ensure that the product does not warp after drying, you need to use a large number of pins.

If it shrinks vertically and becomes noticeably shorter, you can dry it on a hanger. To prevent the jacket from losing its normal shape when stretched in such a way in the places of contact with the hanger, you must first place a towel folded several times on the base for drying.

All you have to do is wait until the item dries naturally. As this happens, it should stretch under its own weight.

If the jacket is knitted by hand, it can even be recut. You will have to rip it apart at the seams, wet the individual parts and baste them wet to dry additional inserts. After this, dry and resew.

Stretching clothes using an iron

If your wool coat is shrunk, you can use a regular iron. Cover the ironing board or table with a blanket and a cotton sheet on top. Next, lay out a damp coat or jacket on the surface and begin to iron it through a cotton napkin. At the same time, the clothes are stretched to their original size.

If the iron is equipped with a steam generation function, then it is also turned on to increase efficiency. This method of restoring shrunken items is more suitable for fabrics of a mixed composition, but if the item of clothing is made of pure wool, then there may be no effect.

Ironing shrunken clothes should be done with great care to avoid getting burned. It is worth considering that a lot of hot steam will be generated.

How to stretch a shrunken wool sweater using solutions

If your wool sweater has shrunk after washing, you can use one of the recipes for rinsing and soaking in special compounds that are prepared at home. The wool will become more elastic and soft. It will be easier to stretch it.

Soak the product for a couple of hours in two liters of water with tartaric acid added to it (10 tablespoons). Then rinse the jacket.

You can also take washing powder intended for wool, pour it into water, leave the sweater in it for half an hour, then rinse.

Squeeze carefully. Wrap in a waterproof bag and place in the freezer for a day. After waiting the required time, let it defrost and dry on a towel.

Another option: dissolve 20 grams of soda in two liters of water, soak the product in this mixture and let it lie there for twelve hours. Then wash with wool powder. It is better to use fabric softener while rinsing. It will give the sweater softness.

Hydrogen peroxide

Hydrogen peroxide will also help restore your sweater to its original size after washing.

Add two tablespoons of this product to a ten-liter bucket filled with cold water and stir properly.

Immerse a woolen item that has shrunk in the liquid for thirty minutes. Gently wring it out using a towel and then, while the item is drying, go over and stretch it into the correct shape.

Turpentine, alcohol and ammonia

If you have the necessary ingredients on hand, dissolve two tablespoons of turpentine, the same amount of vodka (cologne will also work) and six tablespoons of ammonia in five liters of water.

Soak a wool sweater or cashmere jumper in this liquid for an hour. Rinse under running water. The product will become elastic and will be easier to stretch.

Vinegar

Many people are wary of using vinegar. But it should be understood that weak acid solutions do not have a detrimental effect on woolen products.

Already in the production of wool, from which clothing is then made, such substances are used to clean it.

Therefore, you can safely use an acidic product to return the sweater to its previous shape and size.

Take room temperature water and vinegar in a 2:1 ratio, soak the clothes in this liquid for half an hour, and then carefully stretch them.

Hair conditioner

What else should you do if your wool jacket shrinks after washing? You can use completely original, at first glance, means. For example, hair conditioner.

Prepare water whose temperature does not exceed 30 degrees;
Rinse the item that has shrunk in it;
Remove from the water and place in a basin;
Apply hair conditioner evenly throughout the sweater;
After five minutes, stretch the jacket horizontally with your hands.

The product should increase in size by one and a half times.

It’s also good to use another recipe: add 50 ml of vinegar and conditioner to five liters of water. Soak the clothes in this mixture for ten minutes, then rinse and try to regain the lost shape.

It is also recommended to dilute one measuring cap of conditioner in a container with warm water and keep the sweater in this soapy solution for half an hour. Then rinse it well under running water and hang it on a hanger.

How to Rinse and Dry Wool to Avoid Shrinkage

Washed items should be rinsed in clean warm water (same temperature). Remember: you cannot wring or twist woolen items! Instead, place them in a bowl and then tilt the bowl slightly. After 15 minutes, unnecessary water will drain off and the woolen items will be ready for further drying.

To prevent woolen items from shrinking, dry them straightened and laid out on a horizontal plane, for example, on a table previously covered with several layers of clean white fabric or a towel.

After four hours under woolen items, replace the wet cloth with a dry one. Don't forget to carefully straighten your woolen items again. Dry the damp cloth, it will be useful for a new replacement. This method allows you to dry woolen items quickly enough, but they will not shrink and will continue to delight you with their appearance.

How to stretch a wool sweater with steam

Ordinary steam will help stretch a wool sweater after washing.

The sweater needs to be soaked, wait until it is saturated with water. Then let the moisture drain. Lightly squeeze the product and place it on a flat surface.

Using a steam iron, iron the garment through gauze or a piece of white cotton fabric, stretching it occasionally. All this must be done until the sweater is dry.

Just keep in mind that this stretching method is suitable for things woven from half-woolen threads. If we are talking about 100% wool, the product cannot be effectively stretched.

Iron and vinegar

You can try a combined method of influencing clothes that have shrunk.

Wet the sweater or jacket so that the collar and shoulder area remain dry;
Remove excess water with a towel;
Leave to dry on a hanger;
Wet it again and place it on a flat surface, repeating the stretch every ten minutes;
Pour two tablespoons of vinegar into a glass of water, fill a spray bottle with this liquid;
After placing the sweater on the hangers, thoroughly spray it with the spray solution;
Turn on the steam function on the iron and, without touching the product, thoroughly spray it with steam on all sides.

Tricky Tips

In addition to all the basic recommendations, experienced housewives usually use a number of useful tips that allow them to preserve the original beautiful appearance of woolen products for a long time.

Stains from juice or berries are much easier to remove if you briefly sprinkle them with salt first.
lipstick off clothes with rubbing alcohol.
To reduce the likelihood of colored items shedding and soften the water a little, you can add two teaspoons of vinegar essence.
Adding a couple of drops of ammonia will help significantly soften the fabric .
To effectively remove contaminants, it is not necessary to use household chemicals. Folk remedies can also cope with this - mustard powder, potato or bean broth. You can use lemon powder for whitening
If, despite following all the recommendations, your clothes still shrink, you should not be upset or re-wash your favorite sweater. You can sprinkle it with a little water and iron it, gently stretching the fabric.
Woolen clothes should be stored in small piles in the closet; larger and heavier items of clothing should be placed downwards.
If you place a few paper napkins soaked in lavender oil in your closet, your clothes will always smell nice. This measure also reliably protects against moths.

All of these tips help you successfully wash woolen products and avoid possible unpleasant consequences. If there are some concerns, you can always entrust the cleaning of a delicate item to professionals.

Dry cleaning

If home remedies do not help or you are hesitant to use them, you can stretch a sweater that has shrunk after washing by resorting to dry cleaning. Although, as practice shows, not every such service undertakes this. But in any case, no one will forbid you to talk to the receptionist.

A justified refusal of such work can be obtained if the sweater or jacket contains silk thread. As well as decorative elements made from materials that can deteriorate as a result of exposure to chemical stretching.

If possible, it is better to remove beaded decorations, appliqués and stripes from the item. You can return them to their place after the dry cleaning specialists have done their job.

I washed my wool coat. GUARD.

gaskets can be made.

about 1500 will be enough for you three times

how to wash a coat?65%wool.25%polyami.5%cashmere.5%lycra

What should you do if your coat shrinks after dry cleaning?

And if 90 wool 10 acrylic can be washed?

THE MAIN THING IS THE COMPOSITION OF THE FABRIC, WATER TEMPERATURE, AND WASHING DETERGENT.

I WASHED A 80% FLEECE COAT TODAY; 10%-CASHMERE; 10%-POLYESTER.

WASHED AT A TEMPERATURE OF 20 DEGREES, WITH VOLT, MACHINE-WOOL MODE. SPIN 600 RPM.

IT TURNED OUT - S U P E R!

What does greedy mean? For example, it somehow didn’t occur to me that it might sit down. That's why I threw it in the machine.

Everyone advises me to take it to the dry cleaner, but after dry cleaning I’m in trouble! I handed it in in the spring, cleaned it, and it became warm outside, the coat was put away in the closet until the fall. As a result, today I am wearing a coat, and the sleeves are short. My arms couldn’t have grown 10cm over the summer, and my shoulders felt a little tight. And who should I file a claim with now after almost 5 months? composition 80% wool 20% polyester.

If the wool has not shrunk much or needs to be stretched a little

You can stretch a shrunken woolen jacket that has only slightly lost its previous size by putting it on a mannequin after a gentle spin, if the clothing should fit its, and therefore your, shape.

But, as a rule, there are not mannequins lying around in every attic or balcony, so you will probably have to pull a wet sweater over yourself.

To avoid discomfort when wearing it, it is better to periodically change clothes that come into direct contact with the skin. In four hours your favorite thing will be the same.

Reasons for shrinkage

The reasons that caused the deformation of a woolen item may be different. The most common of them will tell you what you can and cannot do when washing woolen items:

High temperatures are contraindicated for washing items. The optimal temperature will be up to 30 degrees .
Regular washing powder was used, which is not intended for delicate items, so its chemical composition destroyed the material. So it is better to use a special powder .
Washing in a machine should be done only in a gentle mode : many manufacturers from leading companies try to provide programs for delicate items that do not have a spin function.

Features of fabrics

The wool fibers are covered on top with many scales, which, when wet and under intense mechanical stress, cling to each other. The felting technique is based on this property of wool. Having firmly adhered to each other, the fibers will no longer separate after drying and will remain tightly intertwined, increasing the density and reducing the surface area of the fabric, and therefore the item. That is why wool should only be washed by hand and very carefully.

Cotton items shrink for another reason - due to improper drying. During production, cotton fibers are strongly drawn and twisted for subsequent processing. When wet, the threads already in the fabric swell and become denser. If you let them dry in this position, the size of the items will shrink.

Natural silk and linen can also shrink, but usually the percentage of their shrinkage is small.

This never happens with synthetics, and if at least a small percentage of synthetic ones are added to natural threads, then they also help maintain the shape of the entire fabric, and a thing made from such fabric does not change size when wet, and if it does, it is much easier to restore it .