How to properly wash a cashmere sweater at home and care tips
Few people know how to properly wash a cashmere sweater at home. With improper care, it stretches or shrinks, becomes covered with granules and turns out hopelessly spoiled. Simple rules will help you choose the optimal washing mode, maintain the attractive appearance of your favorite thing for a long time, get rid of stains and other troubles.
Features of washing cashmere
The main distinguishing feature of cashmere when washing is that this delicate material is prone to stretching and pilling, and therefore you need to be especially careful. You need to follow a few simple rules:
- strictly follow all label instructions;
- if there are stains, they cannot be rubbed with a brush, this will damage the pile;
- you can only use products specially designed for cashmere;
- you can not use water with a temperature above 30 degrees;
The washed cashmere item should not be twisted and hung on a hanger, this will inevitably lead to mold damage.
How to wash properly
In any modern typewriter model, an automatic machine has a delicate mode. But it is better not to get carried away with machine washing, give preference to manual care.Liquid products are preferred - flowing powder clogs the thread and does not rinse well, leaving streaks. There are special liquids on sale for the care of cashmere. They not only clean gently, but also give your favorite sweater a special softness and smooth the coat.
In the washing machine
Before starting the machine wash, the cashmere item is turned inside out and placed in a special bag designed for washing things. This will prevent the delicate material from rubbing further against the walls of the drum.
Fashion
Select the "delicate" mode and program an additional rinse.
water temperature
The water temperature should not exceed 30 degrees. When rinsing, they leave the same temperature - contrasting differences lead to shrinkage of cashmere items.
Spinning
The machine must be set to no spin mode. Otherwise, the fiber will roll and bump, the sweater will shrink.
Upside down
Once the cashmere sweater has been washed, it is turned inside out and hung out to dry.
Manually
Hand washing takes more effort, but is worth it. Hand washing will provide gentler care and extend the life of the cashmere garment.
The hand washing process can be divided into several successive stages:
- Remove fluff from the sweater before washing it. It is best to use a roller for clothes.
- In 10 liters of water at a temperature of 30 degrees, dilute 1 capful of liquid gel for washing cashmere, beat the foam.
- Soak the sweater for 10 minutes. The dirt will wash off on its own, you can lightly crush the product with your hands, but don't press or scrunch too hard.
- Rinse the item well, you don't need to wring it out. Change the water several times.
Add a teaspoon of glycerin to the last rinse. This will give the thing a special softness and protect it from shrinkage.
remove stains
If the item is very dirty and there are stains, then before sending it to the washing machine it is imperative to remove them. If you don't do this right away and just wash it, the marks and the stains will remain.
Jet of cold water
The first thing to do is soak the stain in cold water. Before doing this, gently run a jet of cold water over the stain and wait for the water to wash away the dirt particles. It is enough if the stain is simple dirt. Grass, chocolate, bloodstains require stronger agents.
A soda
If, after soaking in cold water, the stain has not been removed, rub it with sodium carbonate.
It is best to do this carefully, without strongly rubbing or deforming the hair.
To smoke
You can try steaming the stains out. To do this, soak the stain in cold water over a boiling kettle for several minutes. Then wipe it gently with a towel and, if necessary, repeat the whole thing. If the stain has just appeared, the salt will help. You need to sprinkle it gently on the dirt and press down a little. The salt will immediately absorb all the dirt, and you can wipe it off with a towel.
After washing
Do not wring the cashmere sweater after washing. It must be examined for the presence of deformation, and if it occurs, measures must be taken to eliminate it immediately. If everything is in order, start drying.
If sitting
Sometimes it happens that in the process of washing and following, it seems, all the rules, the thing shrinks even further.
In this case, this method will help:
- Dissolve 70 g of conditioner in a bowl of lukewarm water. The denser the yarn, the more conditioner you need.
- In this solution it is necessary to soak the "shrunk" sweater for 10 minutes.
- Squeeze the sweater a little, only to drain the dripping water.
Lay the thing out on a firm horizontal surface, spreading a towel underneath.
Gently stretch to desired size. Dry on towels.
So extended
If the sweater is stretched, it is best to machine wash it. After the performed manipulations, proceed to the "reconstruction" of the required size.
How to mend a cashmere sweater:
- The wet cashmere product is placed on a towel and dried on a hard surface.
- The sweater is straightened and gives the appropriate look: tighten the drooping sleeves, the neckline, tighten the waist. Wrinkles should not be allowed.
- Towels should be changed as soon as they get wet.
- As the item dries, the size decreases.
If a single fragment is deformed, water is sprayed on it from a spray bottle. The thing is similarly dried on a towel, giving the stretched part the desired volume.
How to dry well
Do not wring the cashmere sweater after washing. Do not hang from a hanger, as the sweater will stretch and lose its shape during the drying process. It is best to dry cashmere items on a very absorbent cloth. For this purpose, two or three terry towels spread out on the table or on the floor do the trick. The thing is first put on a towel and sponged on it with the second. Change the bottom towel, let the sweater dry completely.
To prevent the thing from "suffocating" for a long period of drying, it is recommended to allow free air circulation and change towels for dry towels when wet.In the summer it is good to dry such things on the balcony.
Cashmere ironing
Specific advice will help you here:
- Cashmere should not be ironed near the iron, as streaks and scratches may remain. You need to act only with steam at a distance of one centimeter from the fabric.
- If the product is very wrinkled, it should be done on a barely warm iron, not more than 50 degrees.
- Steaming and ironing is done only on the sewn side.
Common Mistakes
With improper care of cashmere products, problems often arise:
- Sweaters are the evil of cashmere, like other woolen things. Some people pick them up simply by tearing them off with their fingernails. Under no circumstances should this be done, as a thin heap is torn off with the pellets. You can only remove this with a sticky laundry roller or a laundry brush.
- Battery drying. This is a very gross error, the payment of which will be the complete inadequacy of the thing. The most that can be done is to move the table on which the sweater is drying a little to the heat source.
- Wash cashmere items with other clothes. It cannot be done. Foreign products deform the delicate fabric, even if it is in a special washing bag.
Rules of care
Like any other fabric, cashmere has its own care rules.
How to take good care of your cashmere sweater:
- Wash a thing in time, without waiting for its obvious pollution. Heavily stained cashmere is difficult to wash and deforms.
- Do not use bleach, even in the very gentle wash category.
- If there are puffs on the sweater, they should be carefully turned to the wrong side.If this is not done, then even in the process of gentle washing they may become a hole.
- If the cashmere sweater has been exposed to rain, it should be dried. It is best to do this on a hard surface, clothes, hanging or carelessly thrown on a chair, may lose their original shape.
- Do not hang cashmere garments on a hanger. Cashmere sweaters inevitably stretch and lose their old shape. They can only be stored folded on the closet shelves.
- A hair dryer can be used to aid drying, provided cold air is supplied.
Having studied all the instructions on how to wash a cashmere sweater, you can provide a good effect of dry cleaning at home. The main thing is a careful approach to your favorite object and the observance of simple rules for its care.