How To Wash Knitwear?
Preparing Knitwear for Washing
Can You Wash knitted clothes?
Yes, you can. In fact, we’re going to have to insist that you do so that you don’t walk around town smelling like a bin. Remember your mate in sixth form who kept telling you that you should never ever wash your hair because hair is actually self-cleansing and the natural oils in your head need to be allowed to do their work? Do you remember what their hair looked like? Exactly. Look after your knitwear. How do you take proper care of knitwear, though? Keep reading for a clinic in knitcare for your knitwear.
Sorting knitwear by material and colour
If you’re reading this article, you were already doing this, but it’s worth shouting one more time for the knitted clothing enthusiasts at the back: SORT YOUR KNITWEAR BY COLOUR AND MATERIAL! Different fabrics have different needs. You wouldn’t clean your car with a toothbrush, and you probably shouldn’t walk through a carwash bearing your pearly whites — you’d be a dead man with a dirty car. Do not murder your Merino wool sweater, for god’s sake.
Equally, mixing strong colours with lighter shades is going to cause your strong colours to bleed into the softer ones. We want no bloodshed here. Keep them separate or forever be the bloke nobody trusts because their nice white and cream clothes all bear a can’t-look-after-himself pinkish hue. Your lovely White Resort Mock Neck Knitted Jumper will suffer big time in a wash with your Rust Knitted Cotton Kodo Shirt.
Note to self: Write a novel called ‘Dead Men with Dirty Cars’.
removing stains and odours from knitwear
Brilliant news: Wool, and especially Merino wool, is naturally odour-resistant and relatively stain-resistant. How great is that? Your Wool Hikaru Zip is naturally stankless. It’s not magic, though — if you spill a glass of primitivo/black coffee/the blood of your enemies on it, you’re still in trouble. But hey! We got you:
If the stain is brand new, i.e. you’ve spilled something, blot it with kitchen towel or whatever absorbent material you have to hand. Scoop away any solid matter if you’ve spilled butter or fallen in grass or, for example. Dab the stain with white spirits or specialised stain treatment liquid from edges to centre, gradually releasing the stain as you go. Think of it as picking off the easy reds in a game of snooker before finally going into the pack, picking off the pawns to make it easier to capture the king.
There are several methods of removing odours from knitwear. We prefer non-invasive techniques, such as hanging your knitwear over a bowl of distilled white vinegar for a day or two. The vinegar will evaporate and take those nasty odours with it. Another option is to pop some solid charcoal in a drawer with your knitwear. The charcoal will absorb moisture, which is usually what causes a bad odour in knitwear. Depends on the odour, though. If you’ve rolled in dog dirt, you’re probably better off just setting your knitwear on fire and being done with it.
Washing Knitwear by Type
Washing Knitted Shirts and Knitted Trousers
We recommend always washing any knitwear by hand. Your Crochet Short Sleeve Shirt will thank you for the care and attention. Make a morning of it, put the radio on. Mix warm water with mild liquid soap, and soak your knitwear in it for five minutes. Carefully rinse it, then squeeze out excess water, BUT IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS HOLY DO NOT TWIST IT.
If you absolutely must use a washing machine, make sure you use a looooooow temperature — it’ll probably have a little picture of a ball of wool next to it on the dial. But please be careful. Machines aren’t to be trusted. They don’t care if they wreck your clothes. Metallic and plastic psychopaths with a penchant for shrinkage, that’s what they are.
How to Wash Knit Sweaters
Again, handwashing is king. Knitted sweaters, such as our Brushed Wool Crew Neck, tend to be made from delicate fabric. Delicate natural fibres have a tendency to catch and snag in a washing machine, so use the method above and be gentle. If you twist or wring your knitted sweaters to remove excess water, they’ll become deformed and lose their shape, or even shrink where you’ve wrung it out. If you really, really have to use a machine to wash your knitted sweaters, please pop them in a mesh laundry bag to reduce friction and snagging.
Drying and Storing Knitwear
Drying Knitwear
If you were to ask us our number one tip for machine-drying knitwear, we’d probably say NEVER MACHINE-DRY KNITWEAR. It’s gonna shrink and you’re gonna be sad. All you have to do is lie it out flat on a towel out of reach of direct sunlight. Don’t hang it up on a line or a hanger because it’s gonna stretch, and you’re gonna be sad. You can buy some nifty mesh hangers on the world wide web, which allow you to lie your Perci Knits flat and get a bit of airflow going. Worth a look.
How to Store Knitwear?
Knitted clothes can stretch or become wrinkly if not stored properly. Luckily, it’s super-easy to prevent this. Just keep your knitwear either rolled and in a drawer, or neatly folded on a shelf — heaviest at the bottom. Done. That’s it. It’s that simple. You’re now fully qualified in knitwear care. What’s first on your Perci Knitwear shopping list?