Do you “ block” your cashmere sweaters?

unfrumped

I have been handwashing/ flat drying my cashmere sweaters, but am finding some shrinkage nonetheless. It’s an issue for me because I can only size up so much or lose the proportions. Plus it’s unpredictable.

I have at times tried to pull or gently stretch the sweater into more width, with varying success. Also I’m lazy and don’t like to feel I have to somehow repeatedly reconfigure my sweaters. Because usually I’ve let it dry first to assess, so now have to re- wet.

If a knit item is even the least bit too snug I know I will not wear it ( except some layering items) so I struggle with wanting to just toss any sweater that is now a tad smaller.

How do you handle this? I’ve had it happen with inexpensive cashmere and not- cheap. Maybe I am just not putting in the required maintenance. Also have considered dry- cleaning, but I feel I’d only want to spring for it once a year, plus I like the idea of using water. From a “ freshness standpoint I don’t need to clean them very often , as usually wear a thin under-T, but I have thought that if trying to wear fewer items more often, the moth risk is greater if I’ve got several on the go in closet.

9 months ago

Dressing

23 replies

Latest reply was from Ket

Irina

Veteran

If I find that gently pulling the sides of the wet sweater didn't work, I try to pull it again when ironing the sweater. I iron on wool setting with steam and it helps.

9 months ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I block knitwear a lot after the cleaners. And 100% after I launder our knitwear.

I always iron, I'm afraid, infrumped! It makes a huge polished difference, and fit difference to my eye. I wish I had an easier solution for you.

9 months ago

Joy

Veteran

I also wash and iron sweaters. They are often laid on towels to dry first. I wash all sweaters. Cotton are the hardest. They take a long time to dry.sortimrs they get hung outside. I often hang sweaters to dry part way through. They can get straightened out on the hanger. I use fat hangers for drying. They are heavy plastic. Sometimes if the garage is warm enough, they get hung out there. I wash sweaters in Spring and put away for the following cold. They are not always blocked. But somewhat pulled into place when damp on a fat hanger.

I have had shrinkage of sweaters with the dryer but not washing.

9 months ago

unfrumped

Veteran

Thanks for ideas! I will probably just bite the bullet and put in more effort. Particularly since I’ve got no predictable brand solution ( especially since quality & construction within same brands & styles can change every year). And I’ve collected very specific colors when I find them.

I actually DO iron, because even not- shrinking one come through hand- washing ( or machine delicate) with definite shrivel/ wrinkles. The key for me is to wash several at a time, so get out ironing board for a session.

9 months ago

cat2

Veteran

Unfortunately both DH and I loathe ironing. So we rely on the dry cleaners to keep some of our sweaters and other knits fresh, the ones that don’t take well to a delicate wash and a flat dry.

9 months ago

phoebe

Active Member

Handwash roll in towel to remove water, lay on towel inside out to dry, smoothing and adjusting the fit according to preference, no pinning. When the sweater feels significantly drier I reverse it to inside in, shaping, adjusting and smoothing. The better the construction the less necessary to have them dry cleaned, which I never do.

Sometimes I try it on to check the fit before after reversing but before laying back out to finish drying

9 months ago

Joy

Veteran

I mostly dry clean sweaters in the dryer with Dryell before packing them away after drying them on a hanger. I iron them when they are pulled out in the fall.

9 months ago

Joy

Veteran

I wash cashmere because it improves the softness.

9 months ago

April

Veteran

Cashmere LOVES to be washed, but I would say this: wash less. Keep it in the light as much as you can, wear a layer between you and it, and wash as infrequently as possible. Store it in the freezer (to kill moth eggs), run it through the dryer (same reason) but if you can avoid washing, do. The Laundress makes a special shampoo for cashmere, meant to be used in the washing machine.

9 months ago

unfrumped

Veteran

April yes, I’ve been using The Laundress Wool & Cashmere!
phoebe, I guess I’m never sure how much to pull and stretch on it. Haven’t tried trying it on damp though!

9 months ago

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Ironing sweaters? Ye gods. I don't hate ironing, but...

I won't say I have never done it, but I can't remember the last time I did.

I actually find the wrinkles typically fall out of most knits almost instantly, with body heat. Perhaps I run warmer than most!

I machine wash my knits including cashmere on delicate in a mesh bag, and then dry on a rack. I suppose I do "block" in the sense that I eyeball it, give it a tug here and there, make sure it is smooth on the rack and/or let gravity do a bit of work sometimes (by allowing it to drape over several rungs rather than lie completely flat -- if I think that will help.) I haven't had a lot of shrinkage except when Mr. Suz mistakenly put some things in the dryer. Thus ended the life of those sweaters in my closet!

9 months ago

unfrumped

Veteran

Suz, I hear you on ironing!

I think I will have to do an experiment.
I’ll re-dampen my sweater & try shaping it, a bit, and see if that moves the fit back to what I want. If not…
Because, as is sometimes my downfall , I had duplicated it in another color that I found very useful, but not if it’s going to shrink. Because it IS a good color, I might try the route of not-washing, lot of freezing ( I do freeze & quarantine any new woolens & overall am not buying much new in casual lifestyle, but allowed myself to be drawn in by colors), and annual dry-cleaning, depending on what they now costs.

9 months ago

Indigoprint

Veteran

Sweaters are a big part of my wardrobe. I can pretty much wear them year round so I have many in all different fibers
I wash as infrequently as I can, use the delicate cycle when I can and if I hand wash roll in a towel to remove excess water as much as I can.
I shape but hang on a drying rack to dry to take advantage of gravity relaxing the knit.
I hang it in the direction I want the most room. If it seems like it it shortened, I hang it from the shoulders. If it seems like the width decreased I hang it that way.

9 months ago

Val

Active Member

Unfrumped, I am wondering why your sweaters are shrinking with hand washing in the first place. As a knitter I have a fair amount of experience blocking wool sweaters when they are first made. Usually they only require light blocking on subsequent washings. Blocking can’t reverse true shrinkage, where the fabric has actually gotten smaller and denser. All blocking does is borrow from length to create more width or vice versa. If you are seeing true shrinkage, maybe it would help to look at the water temperature and the amount of scrubbing or agitation that might be causing it.

9 months ago

Runcarla

Veteran

Sweaters get delicate cycle in a mesh bag and laid flat to dry. I spend a moment smoothing out wrinkles while damp, but will also do a quick steam/press with a conventional iron.

9 months ago

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

I think I am on team Suz. I wash all my wool and cashmere in a wool cycle in the washing machine and let air dry with a few tugs. I might steam if things get ugly, or less commonly iron. I don't wash them a lot though.

9 months ago

Aliona

Active Member

Been away from YLF for a while so perhaps unshrinking woolens is covered elsewhere on the site. Washing machines seem to handle wool differently — my old machine with a wool setting was wonderful, new machine (LG front loader, delicate cold) shrank sweaters to toddler size. I managed to reblock and stretch many by hand washing with the no-rinse product Eucalan then gently coaxing them back to shape when wet. Had to do this multiple times for some sweaters, others were lost causes—probably indicative of quality and fibre length, revealing as you say, Unfrumped, that the most expensive cashmere isn’t always the best quality. Here’s a link to the whys and hows of using a no-rinse product—look under the first accordion (“wool sweaters, e.g…”): https://eucalan.com/laundry-lessons/woolens

I’m team wash: Dry cleaning leaves my cashmere feeling greasy and stiff. Or maybe I can’t escape the time-proven advice of my Scots woolen mill family. Granny always said you can’t put a sheep in the washing machine (or, in her day, run it through the mangle)

8 months ago

Ginger

Veteran

I almost never block my knits but I always give the sleeves a tug. Sometimes the length as well, and/or the chest or shoulders. I'm not sure that it's literally shrinking, it's just that the fibers respond to a little bit of tension. Wool or heavier knit dresses I do block, after the tugging: I lay them out flat, with the skirt spread, on the carpet and it stays pretty well.

FWIW, I'm with Aliona and using Eucalan and an old washer. I don't even have a wool setting, but I use Eucalan, a little bit of gentle agitation to make sure the garments are saturated, leave to soak for an hour or so, then jump the cycle forward to spin, no rinse. Spinning gets a lot more water out than I can by hand with squeezing and towels, especially on the dresses with a lot of material.

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8 months ago

unfrumped

Veteran

Will try some tugging, I guess!

8 months ago

Mary Beth (formerly LBD)

(website)

Veteran

I have reblocked cashmere and cotton sweaters recently - with good results. They both took multiple sessions to get them back to where I wanted them. I used a sink full of cold tap water, baby shampoo, an old towel, and a tape measure. Here are the videos I referred to. I recommend watching them both before you try it.

https://youtu.be/d5a48yClhqs?si=CeQ3v2lOslOlb_HI

https://youtu.be/EDO3AiY8ZC4?si=DY_izmX4jWUkLwHa

8 months ago

Ket

Veteran

It sounds like your sweaters were agitated and/or shocked by sudden water temperature changes, so they probably felted. Agitation and changes in water temp cause the fiber's microscopic scales to latch onto each other. The fibers "mat" together a bit which causes shrinkage.

You can actually undue this with some chemistry.

Try placing the item in a mixture of 1 part white vinegar to 2 parts warm water. Warm water should be around 100-110F deg, no warmer, and certainly not simmering or steaming. Let sit for an hour or so. You can gently soak a second time to rinse out some vinegar. Be really careful that second soak(rinse) water temperature is not drastically warmer or cooler than the vinegar soak water.

Protein fibers don't felt much or at all in acidic water. So by increasing the acidity of the water you're helping the fiber's microscopic scales to smooth and lay flat.

8 months ago

Ket

Veteran

For future reference and future sweaters:

It really depends on how you're washing the cashmere. If it is being machine washed, it's likely shrinking due to the agitation. Another factor is the water temperature must stay the same for both wash and rinse water. Animal fibers shrink with agitation and temperature changes.

I handknit a great deal and I always handwash all wool, alpaca, silk, etc. (Cashmere responds the same as the aforementioned.)

Fill a large sink, laundry tub, etc., with tepid water that has a tiny squirt (1/4-1/2 tsp) of Ajax dishwashing liquid added to it. Gently submerge the item and let soak a minimum of 30 minutes. You need at least 30 minutes for the water to fully penetrate the core of the fiber.

After the soak, look at the water. Is it really filthy? If so, the item will require a second soak. The water for the second soak must be similar to the temperature of the water when you checked it at the end of the first soak. Meaning, if you check after the first soak, the water will likely be cooler than tepid, so match that temperature for second soak water.

If soak water is mostly clean, gently drain/pour off the soaking water.

Place the item in the washing machine and choose drain/spin only cycle. (Do not choose any other cycle that includes rinsing or agitation.) Let the item spin out water. The spinning doesn't agitate the item, as the machine uses centrifugal force. You can roll up the sweater in a towel and gently blot. However, it does't remove nearly as much water and will take 2-3 times a long to dry.

Remove sweater. Lay flat on a hard, non porous surface. Gently shape and make sure arm length looks even, etc. Let air dry. I flip my garments about halfway through, so the item on the hard surface is sky-side up.

I know this sounds like a lot but it's a fairly intuitive and simple process in action.

I know a lot of ladies in the UK, NZ, etc have machines with a wool setting and just love it. So that is a great option. But I've never owned such a washer here in the US. So I handwash.

8 months ago

Ket

Veteran

Something else to note... animal fibers don't retain odors like other fibers. Wool, cashmere, and the like are antimicrobial. I've soaked wool, alpaca, etc, garments in wool washes containing essential oils: the items rarely, if ever, retain the scent of the essential oils.

If the item isn't visible dirty and only stinky, it can actually be aired outdoors for an afternoon. The smells should all leave and stay gone for a while.

You can also mix a little essential oil, vodka, and water and mist the underarms or stinky bits. As the garment dries the alcohol will evaporate, taking the odors with it. But usually a good airing does it for me.

Only time I wouldn't air an item outdoors is late spring and summer. I find wool moths to be out and about in the warmer weather. Moths are attracted to dirty wool/cashmere. The dirtier it is, the more they love it and eat it. (I'm not making this up!) Also, rotate items frequently, even if you just shake them a bit and move them. Wool left hanging/siting in a closet undisturbed for weeks or months at a time is an open invitation to moths.

SO... My rule of thumb is once spring hits, I handwash and dry all my woolens. Then I store them in rubbermaid tubs with cotton soaked in clary sage oil. But the main thing is keeping the items clean and storing away.

8 months ago

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