Everyone has comfortable wool products in the closet, which reliably protect against the cold. Even with care, they need to be cleaned periodically. Many housewives wonder at what temperature to wash a wool sweater so that it retains its shape, does not pile up and lasts as long as possible.
General Rules
To begin with, it’s worth noting that woolen clothes don’t need to be washed often. To freshen up your favorite sweater, hang it out on the balcony once a week. The fresh air and frost will quickly neutralize the unpleasant smell and give you freshness.
The optimal frequency of washing is once every 6 months, but with active wear, the time can be shortened and things can be washed several times more often.
- A store-bought sweater should have a tag with care recommendations. Be sure to study it and stick to the signs.
- If the sweater or scarf is hand-knitted, you need to know what kind of threads were used. The lower the percentage of synthetics in them, the lower the water temperature should be.
Hand washing wool is ideal for gentle cleaning. But, if you have a modern automatic machine, you can quite well entrust your clothes to it.
Preparing things
Before washing wool items, inspect them carefully. If there are stains, remove them with vinegar, glycerin or alcohol. These substances are not capable of ruining woolen threads.
- To get rid of greasy stains, mix vinegar and water in a 1:1 ratio and soak a cotton swab in the solution.
- Blot the smudges with it and wait for them to lighten.
Tea or coffee stains are easy to remove with glycerin. Lightly heat the substance, soak absorbent cotton in it, and soak the dirt 10 minutes before washing.
Sweat stains from wool can be removed by gently scrubbing them with a cloth soaked in medical alcohol.
Hand washing.
What kind of water to wash wool in is important for shape retention. Such threads are very capricious and do not tolerate temperature changes and hot liquids.
To clean a wool product, it does not need to be soaked. Washing should be done quickly and gently.
- Fill a large basin with water. Dissolve in it a liquid detergent designed specifically for wool. If it is not at hand, you can use a mild shampoo. It is enough to pour 1 capful into the liquid and lather.
- Turn the thing inside out, immerse it in water, wrinkle it a few times with your hands, turn it over to the other side and repeat the manipulation. Be careful not to rub or stretch the garment.
- After 5 minutes, take it out of the water, without twisting, and rinse.
To keep your clothes looking like new, you not only need to know what water to wash your woolen clothes in. A proper rinse is very important. It should be repeated several times to completely get rid of soap lather. In the final step, add fabric conditioner to the water. Instead of it, you can use the folk way and apply glycerin to soften the water at the rate of 1 tsp. per 10 liters of liquid.
Carefully remove the water from the garment with the palms of your hands and wrap the thing in a terry towel. Squeeze slightly and spread out on a flat surface for drying.
What’s the best washing program to choose
Many housewives do not have enough time and energy to put things in order by hand. Particular difficulties are caused by washing a wool blanket and other voluminous products. In this case, a modern washing machine can facilitate the work.
When choosing a program, there is no need to experiment on what mode to wash woolen things. Manufacturers have specially developed the program “wool”, which takes into account all the features of such clothes.
Some models do not have this function. In this case, select a delicate mode, set the water temperature to 30 degrees, make sure that the program time does not exceed 45 minutes, and completely eliminate the spin.
Automatic washing
Before loading a garment into the machine, remove large buttons and other accessories from the garment. Otherwise, they may damage the garment while the drum is rotating.
- Turn the sweater inside out and soak it in warm water for a few minutes. This is to avoid shrinkage of the material.
- After that, put the thing inside the drum, fill the trays with a mild detergent such as “Laska” for wool, conditioner and start the wash cycle.
When it is finished, open the machine door and take out the wet clothes. Carefully remove excess moisture with a terry cloth towel and leave to dry horizontally, away from radiators and other heaters.
For automatic washing to be safe, you must strictly adhere to the recommendations at what degrees to wash wool. Also, do not use powders with chlorine and bleach for cleaning.
Tips for washing colored items
Dark and colored wool requires special treatment. It often sheds, so be sure to do a small test before coming into contact with water.
You will need the yarn from which the garment is knitted. Immerse it in a soapy solution for 5 minutes and then wrap it in a piece of white natural fabric. If after this there will be visible streaks on the material, it means that the wool is dyed poorly. To fix the color, add 2 tbsp. of vinegar to the wash water.
If you are interested in how to wash dark-colored wool clothes so that they remain soft and bright, use mustard powder. This folk recipe is time-tested and does the job just fine.
- Measure out 1 cup of dried mustard and pour it with 3 cups of cold water.
- Mash it thoroughly. You should get a homogeneous liquid.
- Strain it through a fine sieve or gauze.
- Fill a basin with 10 liters of hot water, pour the solution and wait for 2 hours. During this time mustard will infuse.
- Carefully drain the water into another container so as not to disturb the sediment at the bottom, and dilute the hot liquid to a temperature of 35 degrees.
- Soak the wool garment and wash without the aid of detergent.
It is advisable to pour 1 tsp. of ammonia into the last rinse water. Then the wool sweater will be surprisingly soft.
Ways to wash white things
From frequent washing white woolen threads yellow, and the clothes lose their attractive appearance. Do not rush in this case to send the sweater to the cottage. There are several proven ways to renew its color.
You can use a simple recipe.
- You need to dilute in 6 liters of warm water 1.5 kg of crushed chalk.
- Soak the white stuff for half an hour.
- Rinse thoroughly three times.
- Squeeze with a towel and pat dry.
The second method requires hydrogen peroxide. Dilute it with water in the ratio of 1 tsp. per liter of liquid and soak the wool clothes. After a quarter of an hour, wash them carefully, and then rinse.
How do you get wool back to softness?
When worn for long periods of time and washed often, clothes can become stiff and lose their shape. To bring them back to their former appearance, learn how to wash woolen items with bean decoction.
Fill 1kg of beans with 5 litres of water and boil until soft. Drain the water through a sieve into a deep basin and add to it the right amount of liquid to soak the clothes. Check the temperature before you immerse the garment. It should not be more than 35 degrees. Wash the wool in the bean solution and rinse.
This method gently washes away dirt, gives softness, returns to its former shape, and prevents the appearance of lint.
