How to stretch a shrunken wool sweater, or make it fit after washing

Let's look at ways to stretch a sweater that has shrunk after washing. Wool items require a lot of care when cleaning, so you should always follow the directions on the tag. This is especially true for maintaining the water temperature and washing mode if it is not done manually.

Most often, wool sweaters are subject to shrinkage. If this happens, then there are many ways to correct the situation and return the item to its original condition.

• Reasons for shrinkage
• How to stretch a shrunken cashmere sweater and restore its shape
• Tips for caring for wool items
• How to wash a pullover so that it shrinks
• Sweaters made from other materials

Reasons for shrinkage

Shrinkage refers to the reduction in fabric size when soaked, cleaned or cooked. This negative phenomenon is characteristic of all types of matter to one degree or another.

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To avoid shrinkage of a wool item, during its manufacturing process it is subjected to forced shrinkage or treated with synthetic resins. Household reasons for reduction, leading to a significant change in the size of the product and possible deformation, can be:

1. Exposure to hot water. The temperature when cleaning and rinsing a wool sweater should not exceed 300C.
2. Selecting the wrong program. When washing wool in a machine, you need to use a specially designed mode, and if there is none, manual or delicate. Since the strong mechanical impact of the SMA also leads to shrinkage.
3. Washing powder. It is necessary to use a product suitable for wool, regardless of the cleaning method. They are usually produced in liquid form. Instead of powder, you can use baby shampoo.
4. Low quality wool.
5. The temperature difference that occurs during a washing program.

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Will dry cleaning help?

In some cases it really helps. There they will not stretch the item using traditional methods, but will immediately treat it with special professional means .

The product may be refused acceptance if the sweater has stripes, appliqués, decorations, the wool is “blend” and contains silk thread, or the employees simply do not see the point in “continuing the fight” against shrinkage.

How to stretch a shrunken cashmere sweater and restore its shape

1. Put a wet sweater on yourself and wear it for several hours until it dries completely; this method is especially effective in case of shrinkage of individual parts of the jumper (collar, sleeves). A mannequin is also suitable for these purposes, but in this case you need to evenly hang the weights on the sleeves and bottom.
2. You can re-soak the jumper in cold water for 20 minutes without adding any detergent. Then the product is wrung out, wrapped in a towel. The next step involves drying, which can be done in one of the following ways:

1. The pullover is placed on a flat surface for half an hour, then every 15 minutes it is consistently stretched on all sides until it dries. You need to be especially careful with the collar and cuffs, careless stretching of which can cause their irreversible deformation.
2. The wet jumper is placed on a towel and pulled out to its original size and secured in this position with pins. The more you use, the better, as this will prevent “waves” after drying.
3. In cases where the jacket has shrunk in length and the width has changed slightly, it is often enough to simply hang it on a hanger, previously wrapped in a towel or thick fabric. Thus, the clothes stretch under their own weight.

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Irina. Housewife.

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Important. Regardless of the chosen drying method, it is necessary to periodically monitor the uniform stretching of the pullover.

1. The steaming method is suitable for jackets with a mixed composition, but for products consisting entirely of natural wool, it will be ineffective.

Preparing a sweater for washing

With this method, the jumper is wetted with water, laid out on a towel and wrung out. Then place it on an ironing board, cover it with a thick cotton cloth and iron it with steam. During and after ironing, periodically pull the jumper with your hands. Steam treatment is carried out until the jacket is completely dry, and then allowed to cool.

1. Hair conditioner is also suitable for smoothing wool fibers.

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Irina. Housewife.

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First you need to rinse the jacket in cool water, then apply the conditioner evenly to the item and leave to soak for 5 minutes. Then the product is taken out of the water and pulled in horizontal and vertical positions.

1. You can use a solution that requires 3 tbsp. l. ammonia and 1 tbsp. l. vodka and turpentine; These components are diluted in 5 liters of water. If you leave a shrunken jumper for 1 hour, it will become softer and more elastic and it will be much easier to pull it out.
2. Ordinary acetic acid can also increase the elasticity of a mohair jumper. It is diluted in a container in double volume. The sweater is soaked for 30 minutes in this solution, and then they try to stretch the sweater to its previous state.
3. You can also rinse the pullover in a bucket of cool water, after adding a couple of tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide to it. During rinsing, the item is actively stretched. Then you can leave the clothes in this composition for a couple of hours, after which they are dried with towels, as described above.
4. If you have the ability to sew and cut, or the shrunken item was made independently, then you can try the following:

• rip the clothes apart at the seams and wet the resulting parts;
• baste them to previously prepared patterns made of dense material (cardboard);
• dry elements are stitched back together.

Air conditioner

Another little secret is that hair conditioner helps smooth out wool threads. Knowing this secret will help you if you need to stretch a sweater that has shrunk after washing.

Here's what you should do:

1. Rinse the product in water at a temperature of no more than 30 degrees.
2. After that, place it in a basin, anoint it with the existing hair conditioner.

Important! Make sure that the conditioner is evenly applied to the entire surface of your product.

1. After 5 minutes, you can already pull the jacket, but only with your hands horizontally.

Important! The size of your product can increase by a maximum of 1.5 times.

Tips for caring for wool items

Washing rules

To avoid problems associated with shrinkage of a wool blend sweater, you must follow the following recommendations:

1. Save the label, which contains recommendations for the maintenance and care of the item.
2. Preference should be given to hand cleaning in cool or slightly warm water. Using a machine with active spinning and a large temperature difference during the washing process significantly increases the risk of getting clothes several sizes smaller.
3. Use special detergents that are intended only for wool, or regular baby shampoo.

Machine washable

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REFERENCE . Even if the label on a jumper states that it cannot be hand washed, this does not mean that it must be dry cleaned every time. It is enough to carry out careful manual processing. Also, sheep wool is a hygienic material, so if you don’t sweat much, then “refreshing” your sweater several times a year is enough.

Drying

It is not recommended to twist wool products after washing, or to wring them out using an automatic machine. The best option is to dry clothes on a cloth (or towel), which is periodically changed as it gets wet. Do not forget about manually adjusting the shape and size of the pullover during drying.

IMPORTANT . If you do not plan to stretch the mohair product, do not dry it on hangers under any circumstances.

Drying a Sweater

Ironing

You need to iron the blouse inside out at medium temperature, preferably using gauze.
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Whitening

If you have a white angora woolen jacket, then over time the question of bleaching it will arise due to loss of color or yellowing of the material, etc. One of the effective folk methods, which should be used with caution, is a solution of soda and peroxide (ratio 8 to 1, respectively) . It needs to be soaked in for several hours.

Preliminary recommendations

Before you put your shrunken sweater in the car, be sure to:

• check its label and the selected washing machine modes;
• read what is written on the product, determine whether it is suitable;
• if there are stains, depending on their nature, they should be treated first.

Suitable, for example, is an absorbent substance - talc, starch, tooth powder. Do not use alkaline compounds of any kind to remove stains.

The best option is hand washing . You need to fill a bowl with water at the temperature indicated on the sweater label, dissolve the product in it and wash it carefully, without stretching or twisting the item. Dry horizontally on a large terry towel.

Only a damp sweater can be stretched . If you don’t have time, then shrinkage is inevitable again. It is necessary to pull it out slowly in different directions, so that the tension of the threads is uniform everywhere.

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Lifehack! To prevent the product from shrinking as it dries, try attaching it to the surface using regular pins or stretching it onto a homemade wire blank.

How to wash a pullover so that it shrinks

Sometimes sheep's wool clothing can wear out during wear and it becomes necessary to shrink it. This must be done carefully and carefully so as not to damage the product. In any case, you should read the instructions on the label before washing. Let's look at how to do this correctly:

1. The stretched jumper should be soaked for half an hour in water that is 200C warmer than recommended.
2. It is necessary to rinse the product in cool water. The greater the effect you need to achieve, the greater the temperature difference between washing and rinsing should be.
3. You should not wring out or twist the washed item, as this can deform it. Excess water is removed with a towel, and drying occurs in a horizontal position on it.

Using a special bag

Professional services

You can restore a shrunken wool sweater at a dry cleaner. Professionals do stretching using special rollers and steam-air mannequins. If they do not provide a 100% guarantee of obtaining the desired result, then you must pay for the service only upon completion of the work.

The second option to return the desired size to your favorite woolen product is to recut it. Seamstresses rip the item apart, stretch the fragments piece by piece and sew them together again.

Sweaters made from other materials

Cotton

Cotton pullovers are also prone to shrinkage. You can return it to its original size using the same methods as for a woolen item. Repeated cleaning in a washing machine with a spin function will also allow cotton clothes to stretch; The water must be cool. Ironing with steam gives a good effect. It is recommended to dry in a vertical position, periodically stretching with your hands.

Acrylic

A stretched acrylic jumper must be washed following the recommendations, and then rinsed with fabric softener.
The shrunken sweater is soaked with the addition of conditioner and left for 10-15 minutes. Then it is dried either on hangers or on a horizontal surface, stretching it by hand.

Fleece

If a fleece item is 100% polyester, then if proper cleaning procedures are followed, it is unlikely that it will shrink. If a fleece sweater contains cotton, it may shrink slightly after washing. Recommendations for stretching a sweater are the same as for a cotton sweater.

Marks on a sweater

Viscose

To revive a viscose sweater, ironing with steaming, manual stretching on a hanger, or drying the clothes on yourself will help. The last method is most applicable for viscose items.

Synthetics (polyester)

Synthetic clothing is the most unpretentious. When using cool water and a delicate wash cycle, it rarely stretches. If you need to return a polyester item to its original size, you can stretch a damp sweater by hand or using an iron. But it is important to consider that such material does not tolerate high temperatures.

Why do things shrink in size?

Any fabric consists of threads, which in turn consist of fibers. Woolen items are made from natural downy animal hairs woven into yarn.

If you remember from biology course, under a microscope, human hair looks like a rod covered with a layer of scales that overlap each other like tiles. The situation is approximately the same with animal fur.

Now imagine a wool thread that finds itself in the extreme conditions of a washing drum:

1. If natural threads are wetted, they become soft and fluffy. This happens when a woolen item is placed in warm water.
2. If you start to crush them, the fibers become deformed, bend, and the surface scales open up and stand on end. This is a consequence of the rotational movements of things in the drum.
3. When compressed, the scales firmly cling to their own kind on neighboring villi.

Thus, the bent and compressed villi are fixed to each other in an incorrect position by the superficial horny scales, like hooks. the result is a shortening of the threads and a decrease in the size of the sweater.

This principle is used in the felting method of woolen products, where the wool is wetted and compacted by deliberate deformation.

Another clear example to help you understand what the shrinkage process is. Try taking a few of your hairs from the comb, rolling them between your palms and rubbing them with your fingers. You will get a dense lump that you will never untangle.

There is another factor leading to shortening of the filaments at the physiological level. Despite the fact that cut hair is no longer alive, it still contains the protein keratin, which, like all proteins, is subject to the process of denaturation (strong contraction at high temperatures). This process is irreversible. Boiled wool fibers cannot be stretched back.

It seems that the above arguments are sufficient to understand the process of shrinkage of natural wool pile. Let's begin the process of resuscitating things.

Stretching

Woolen items absorb moisture well. If you wet them with water, the fibers soften and are easy to stretch.

For this:

• soak the product for 30 minutes in water at a temperature of up to 30°C;
• take it out and squeeze it out, but do not twist it;
• place it on the table and stretch it to the sides. Woolen items take a long time to dry, so manual stretching will take a day. During the drying process, periodically change the wet towel placed under the item with a dry one and continue pulling.

This way you can stretch a shrunken woolen hat or sweater. You can also stretch the cap if you stretch it after moistening it onto a glass jar of suitable size.

Alternating hot and cold water

The method is ideal for wool blend and cashmere blouses.

1. Take two containers and fill them with water at a contrasting temperature. In one it is almost boiling water, and in the other it is very cold, almost icy. It is recommended to acidify it with vinegar or lemon juice. Deformed clothing is placed in hot water for 5-7 minutes, then in cold water.
2. Let the water drain and spread it horizontally on a towel. Don't forget to straighten it well.