Pullover Broken In? Try The Following Tricks!

A sweater with wool that has shrunk from wrong washing doesn’t have to be too small forever.

Your favorite sweater broke in because it secretly cheated in the basket with the colored laundry? The sweater contains wool and is now one size too small? Most sweaters with wool are not cheap, which is why it can be worthwhile to try out our household tips.

Why is the sweater shrinking?

A cotton sweater will shrink if you have washed the textile at too high a water temperature or if you have dried it in the dryer. This is normal to a certain extent and, with low tolerances, is not a sign of poor quality, as fibers contract when exposed to heat.

The hotter the water temperature or the dryer, the more likely the garment will shrink.

However, sweaters and other cotton garments can shrink by up to 10% even though they haven’t been washed too hot and you’ve done everything right. This is then due to the poor quality of the threads that were used to weave the fabric.

Wool sweaters not only shrink if the washing temperature is too hot, but also if the washing machine is too vigorous, using the wrong detergent and too high a spin speed.

Wool (and silk) consists of protein compounds that react with the washing-active enzymes in “normal” detergents. Therefore, you should always wash wool and silk with a special detergent!

To make felt out of wool, the wool is milled in hot soapy water, that is, agitated. You do nothing else in the washing machine if you select the wrong program (and wrong detergent). The fibers become matted, the wool sweater shrinks.

Protect sweaters from shrinking

To protect cotton garments from shrinking, wash them at the lowest possible temperature and do not use the dryer.

If the sweater contains wool, be sure to use a special detergent and wash in the so-called “hand wash” in the washing machine.

Usually the washing machine also has an extra ” wool program “. If you wash clothes with wool by hand, move them only lightly in lukewarm water in the wash basin, avoid rubbing, rubbing and wringing out!

If it did happen and an item of clothing shrank, try the following tricks:

hair conditioner

Conditioner not only softens your hair, it also softens wool. To try to get a woolen garment back to its original size, soak it in hair conditioner.

Get a bottle of hair conditioner of your choice and dissolve all of its contents in a wash bowl with lukewarm water. Then put the sweater in for a few hours, preferably overnight, and let the hair conditioner take effect.

Then proceed as described under “Stretching”.

Vinegar water

You can also try to make your shrunk garment smoother and more elastic again with vinegar water.

The ratio of water to vinegar should be 2 to 1, i.e. 2 liters of water and 1 liter of vinegar. Please only use vinegar that is not colored to prevent discoloration of the laundry. Let the textile soak for at least 30 minutes, preferably longer, and then stretch it as follows:

stretch

After your sweater is soaked in hair conditioner or vinegar water, it’s time to stretch the softened and relaxed fibers of the fabric.

• Carefully squeeze the liquid out of the fabric and gently and evenly pull the sweater into shape.
• Now lay it flat on a thick towel or the clothes horse and fix the sweater with weights, safety pins or clothespins so that it dries under tension.
• Pull into shape nicely and let it dry slowly, occasionally pull even further into shape.
• Alternatively, you can stuff the sweater with towels so that the fabric can dry well stretched out.

• Spinning also helps stretch the fibers. So if you want to make the sleeves longer, grab the sweater by the sleeves and swirl it vigorously through the air (preferably outdoors, the water splashes!).

When dry, try on and repeat if necessary. If the sweater fits again, wash it properly this time so that the hair conditioner or vinegar smell is removed and you can put it back on. And from now on always wash properly!