Welcome back to the Gentleman's Gazette, in today's video we're going to discuss some
techniques you'll need to know in order to easily wash it home what some people consider
to be a fairly temperamental garment, wool sweaters.
This video is part of a series we're doing on garment care, the first video in the series
dealt with how to get that musty smell out of vintage clothing.
You can take a look at that video here.
Also, stay tuned for further parts in the series that deal with some cheap and easy
laundry hacks you can use and also most importantly, how to get stains out of any kind of garment.
The topic today then is how to take care of your wool sweaters and other wool garments.
First of all, wool doesn't actually need to be washed very often as the lanolin oils that
are present in the wool make it naturally anti-microbial.
So as long as your wool garments are only subjected to average wear and you give them
a little bit of time to air out in between wearings, you won't actually have to put them
through your washing machine or hand wash them all that often.
In those situations where you do think that a wash would be best however, fight the impulse
to take your wool garments to the dry cleaner.
The solvents that are used in dry cleaning are eventually harsh on wool fibres and will
break them down overtime.
Why are most people so apprehensive to wash wool at home the, common knowledge seems to
be that wool will shrink if it's exposed to water, heat, detergents or other factors.
Here though are two essential truths, one about washing and the other about wool.
Firstly, what's actually doing most of the washing when you wash your clothing is having
water pass over and between the fibres of your clothing.
The detergent that you use in your washing machine is acting as a surfactant.
Essentially, it is making the water more slippery so that it can more easily get between the
fibres of your clothing.
In other words, the water is doing the work of the washing, not the detergent.
Second, here is something you actually may find mind blowing about wool.
It does not actually shrink in the laundering process.
Rather, as the wool fibers are agitated back and forth and move around during washing especially
during drying, they lock closer and closer together creating another material that you
may also have heard of, felt.
Sometimes, of course, felting wool can be a good thing such as in the process for making
traditional men's hats.
But of course, you do not want your sweaters to end up the same way.
On that note, you can check out our playlist on men's hats located here.
Furthermore, though, the majority of felting is not going to take place in the washing
machine since water will be in between most of the individual fibers.
Rather, where felting occurs most often is in the dryer as the clothes are dry, hot,
and being constantly agitated.
So ultimately then, the primary thing to focus on whenever you are washing wool is just to
prevent felting.
This is true for either of the two techniques we are about to show you.
With that in mind then, hand-washing your wool sweaters is the safest method for cleaning
them so it is the method we will go over first.
To get started, add two capfuls of a gentle cleaning agent like wool and cashmere shampoo
to a container of room temperature water.
Turn the sweater you are going to wash inside out, submerge it in the water, and gently
agitate it with your hands so that the cleaning agent is thoroughly worked through.Then soak
the sweater for at least ten minutes and up to half an hour.
After you've done this, you can rinse the sweater by running cool water through it and
when the water is no longer soap, you'll know that the garment is thoroughly rinsed.
Before drying the rest of the way, you can take some of the excess water out of the sweater
by applying gentle pressure.
Keep in mind that you should never wring out a wool sweater as the excessive agitation
is definitely going to distort the fibres and might have the potential to cause " some
felting.
By the way, if you see any visible colour in your basin of water, don't worry.
The garment has just released some of the excess dye that it had put into it and you're
not going to see any visible loss of colour in the garment when you wear it again.
Since the full drying process is the same for both of the washing methods we're going
to show you today, We'll come back to it in a minute.
First we're going to illustrate the technique necessary for how to machine wash your wool
sweaters.
Yes, you heard me correctly.
First, turn your sweater inside out as before.
Roll it up as tightly as you can, don't bunch it but roll it, and then put it inside of
a mesh washing bag which should also be rolled as tightly as possible and secured with a
safety pin if necessary.
This preparation is done with felting in mind, simply stated if the sweater is rolled up
tightly, it's not going to move around and it's not going to come into contact with other
garments' fibres or really with its own fibres to a certain extent.
Therefore, the risk of felting is greatly minimized.
Also we turned it inside out because if any felting or pilling does happen to occur, it's
only going to be visible inside of the sweater, not the outside.
Putting wool items into their own mesh bags is also beneficial for your washing machine
as felt fuzz from loose wool items could clog up the machine's working.
Therefore, having things in mesh bags is good for your garments and your machine.
Next, add the appropriate amount of wool and cashmere shampoo, depending both on the size
of the machine as well as the load in question.
Also, you don't have to worry about using the delicate or woolen cycle on the machine
or worry about spin speed.
As long as you've got the wool sweater tightly compacted inside the mesh bag and the bag
itself is also tightened down, the express cycle on the machine will be just fine.
And here's another about water temperature, the washing machine industry standard for
what's considered cold water is actually closer to what will be in your machine if you select
the warm setting, rather than the cold water that most residences can tap into.
Also, truly cold water doesn't do a very good job of activating detergent, so using warm
will be your best bet.
Once the washing machine is finished, promptly remove your garments both from the machine
and from their mesh bags to reduce creasing.
Now let's cover drying, as we mentioned before, don't use your dryer.
Remember, that's the location where felting is most likely to occur.
Rather what you should do is lay out your garments flat on a drying rack and leave them
there to dry.
You can also speed up this drying process a bit by taking an item and laying it flat
on a clean towel.
With the garments in its natural shape, roll up the towels slowly like a sleeping bag using
gentle pressure to get out some of that excess water.
Wait a few moments, unroll the towel and then put the garment on the rack as normal.
While your sweater is on the drying rack, you can reshape or block it using gentle pressure
with your hands.
Once you've gotten into the shape you desire, just leave it on the rack and then it should
dry that way.
Avoid placing your garments in direct sunlight or near heat sources like a radiator because
this could increase the risk of yellowing as well as shrinkage.
Also, you should never hang your wool garments to dry them because gravity will pull on the
water that's left in the garment, unevenly spreading out the fibres and distorting the
garments overtime.
Using a drying rack is your best course of action.
The process for washing really is that simple.
Next up, let's cover a few maintenance tips for your wool sweaters.
To get wrinkles out of your wool garments, it's best to use a garment steamer rather
than an iron as the heat and pressure from an iron will be more likely to distort the
natural structure of the fibres.
If pilling has occurred, you can take a sweater comb and gently run it across the surface
of the fabric in one direction only to remove the pills effectively.
Also, using a clothes brush in between wears is an easy way to get rid of lint, fuss, and
hair and also to release some of those lanolin oils that keep the sweater looking its best.
And if you have been hanging to an old sweater that shrunk in the laundry, there is a way
to bring these old sweaters back to life.
Add one tablespoon of olive oil to a container of hot water, submerge the sweater and swish
it around as with the hand washing process we laid out before and then leave the garment
to soak in that container overnight.
The next day, take the sweater out of the container, lay it flat, and block it as desired,
and then leave it to dry completely.
After it is thoroughly dried, you can wash it as normal using the techniques we outlined
here.
Finally today, let us talk about sweater storage.
Woolen knitwear should always be stored folded to prevent stretching or distortion of the
fibres.
Also, woolen cashmere are susceptible to insect damage.
When you are storing your wool garments, make sure they have been cleaned first so that
you are not providing any food sources for potential bugs.
It is best to store your woolens in a cool dry place in a breathable cotton storage bag
with a zip closure.
Because bugs can get into openings in a seater chest over time, the seater will also occasionally
lose its effectiveness the longer you have it around.
Also, storing in plastic encourages yellowing and it might also provide a moisture that
bugs will love.
Optionally here, you can also include in the storage box a sachet of about a half cup of
dried lavender since bugs hate the stuff.
And there you have it, all the techniques necessary to properly and easily wash your
wool sweaters and other garments at home.
As we said, you can check out the previous video in the series here and stay tuned for
upcoming installments.
So did we blow your mind that wool does not actually shrink or did you have a different
takeaway from today's video?
Whatever the case may be, share with us in the comments below!
And as always, do not forget to subscribe to the channel and hit the little bell icon
so videos like these will come right to you.
In today's video, I am wearing an outfit that might be typically worn around the house taking
a day to do a little bit of necessary garment care.
My medium blue cardigan is especially informal given its two front pockets.
I am wearing it over a shirt from Charles Tyrwhitt that features a gingham pattern in
blue and white.
The shirt does have French cuffs but I am wearing them configured in a barrel style
today so that they fit better under the sleeves of the sweater.
My cufflinks are vintage silver ones and thy feature a simple geometric pattern that compliments
the gingham pattern of my shirt well.
My plain brown trousers harmonize well with my shirt and cardigan and on that note, you
can check out how to effectively pair brown and blue here.
If you go along with this color scheme, my socks are plain blue in color but they do
feature a subtle stripe in their weave.
The outfit today is rounded out by my dark oxblood penny loafers which are informal in
nature and also harmonize well colorwise.
I am not really wearing many accessories today aside from the vintage cufflinks but if you
would like to take a look at some other types of accessories, just take a look at the Fort
Belvedere shop here.