How to wash and care for your knitted garments
Almost every day, we get questions that relate to washing and caring for knitwear and wool, and here we give you our best recommendations.
Woolen garments can last for years, but you need to take good care of them. Washing is hard on clothes - and especially when they are made from wool. A general rule is that wool should be washed much less often than other materials because it has a self-cleansing effect. Wool contains lanolin, which reacts chemically with moisture and salt and prevents the smell of for example sweat to take a hold in your garment as long as the clothes are simply hung out to air.
The very best advice we can give you is hence to leave your woolen clothes hang out on e.g. a chair at night, so that they are fresh again the next day. Or even better; hang your knitted wool sweater outside in the damp weather for a few hours - it becomes as fresh as new. If your sweater has got a real stain, it must of course be washed, but otherwise we try to avoid washing wool as much as possible.
Another great way to freshen up a knitted sweater is to comb it with a wool comb. By combing your wool garments, you remove the fluffy fibers that gathers on the fabric as little balls of wool - and this way you can give your clothes a boost and keep them clothes fresh and beautiful.
Washing instructions for wool garments
When you need to wash your woolen clothes, you can do two things: wash your wool in a washing machine on a wool program or wash it by hand.
We recommend only wash your wool in the machine, if you know your machine very well. Be sure to test out its wool program before throwing your favorite sweater knitted on needle 2.5 mm into it. Choose a wool program that washes and rinses at the same temperature. All washing machines wash differently and they are not all equally gentle. We also recommend that you spin your wool at a maximum of 400 revolutions, as the wool otherwise risks felting.
Therefore; if you want to be on the safe side and take extra care of your knitted garments, wash them gently by hand and avoid twisting or pulling them in the process.
If you wash by hand, you also need to know a few basic rules. Wash and rinse at the same temperature - approximately 30 degrees. For example, avoid washing in hot water and rinsing in cold - wool cannot withstand large temperature fluctuations, as this can cause it to felt.
Use liquid wool detergent as it does not contain the same enzymes as regular detergent. Although the clothes do not seem to be damaged by washing with regular detergent the first few times, the enzymes in regular detergent will 'eat up' the wool, and after 15 - 25 washes the clothes will be left with holes.
Dry your woolen clothes by laying them flat on a towel - for example on a drying rack. Never never hang them on a hanger.
How to wash our popular Silk kit (Önling No 6, 7 and 8)
Our Silk sweater (which is one of our absolute best sellers) and all other styles knitted in our Silk kit must be treated extra gently. The Silk kit contains three different qualities (linen, wool and silk), and therefore we recommend that you wash your silk sweater by hand to prevent it from changing shape or appearance during wash. The three qualities react differently to water and temperatures, and therefore need a gentle wash only.
And important; the silk sweater must also not be spun or dried in a tumble dryer. Gently squeeze the water out of it and lay it flat to dry.
That's it, now you know how to take good care of your knitted garments. And as always, you are welcome to ask questions in the comments section below.
With love,
Team Önling
