How many times have we found ourselves with felt garments because we accidentally washed a wool sweater with the rest of the clothes!
Once out of the washing machine we discovered the mini version of our beloved sweater. or micro of the washing machine.
Wool and cashmere articles.
Wool garments are characterized by being made with natural fabrics and are ideal for autumn-winter. However, these same fabrics make them delicate garments that can shrink if washed at high temperatures or can be damaged if commercial fabric softeners are used.
As a general rule, when washing woolen items it is best to do so with cold water and a neutral detergent for delicate items. In addition, it is advisable not to wring the clothes and also rinse them with cold water.
Additionally, before hand washing any garment, as well as wool, if there are dried stains, it is recommended to treat the stain.
For example, if it is blood stains, applying products such as baking soda or hydrogen peroxide will help you remove the stain more easily.
What to do with felt items?
We should not despair when faced with a felt garment, there are some tricks capable of lengthening a wool sweater that has shrunk, and thus being able to recover the original size of any wool garment.
One of the mistakes that should not be made is to pull , with the intention of remedying the problem, the garment that is visibly felted. You only run the risk of causing more damage, with the result that the threads that make up the sweater break irreparably.
At this point all we have to do is arm ourselves with patience and a basin , where we will add not only warm or cold water, but also a little baby shampoo, a couple of tablespoons will be enough.
If you don’t have a gentle shampoo, you can use your hair conditioner or, alternatively, the fabric softener you normally use for laundry.
Once the product has dissolved well in the water, the felted items can be submerged , ensuring that each part is soaked in water.
Once the garments have been submerged, they should be left to soak for no less than 30 minutes. After this time, the water should be removed and the felted garments “squeezed” and not wrung out.
This is because they will have to maintain a certain humidity, it is not necessary to “soak” them.
How to hang felt items
The dry towel technique will allow you to absorb excess water, “curing” the felt object. To do this, simply place a dry towel in a horizontal position and roll the felt object inward.
This will be done several times by changing the towel, lengthening the garment with each change.
With this trick you will not only absorb excess water , but you will be able to return the original dimensions to the garment that has become felted due to incorrect washing.
Finally, you will have to continue letting it dry this way and away from heat sources. This drying system preserves delicate and precious garments such as cashmere in the wash.
How to stretch felt items
If you want to adopt another solution to remedy this problem , you need baking soda and vinegar.
Mix 20 grams of baking soda in a liter of hot water. This mixture is then added to a container filled with warm water.
The head is slowly submerged and gradually relaxes between the hands.
Keep the garment in the sink for approximately 1 hour and then rinse it in another sink with 1 liter of room temperature water and 250 ml of white vinegar.
Let the garment dry on a horizontal surface, but do not wring it out.
One last trick to recover a felt sweater requires 125 ml of white vinegar and 50 ml of a hair mask of your choice.
These two products should be poured into a container and dissolved well, then the garment should be completely immersed in the solution and left to soak for approximately half an hour.
Then it will have to be stretched and widened, to be submerged in the container again for approximately 1 hour. Finally, it should be washed with cold water and placed horizontally but not under direct sunlight.