General advice for the care of Wool

Any very special sweaters which you don’t want to run the risk of spoiling can be washed with a special cold water solution. You can buy it in powder form in small packets. A small amount of glycerin (1 teaspoon) in the rinsing water gives wool a nice soft texture and keeps it bouncy.

Wool clothes do not need to be dried flat; they are surprisingly robust garments and can be hung on the line. Take a pair of old tights and put them in one sleeve, right through the garment and out the end of the other sleeve and peg the tights, not the wool, to the line. Incidentally, do fasten buttons and zips before you hang wool garments up.

However, particularly heavy items may not be suitable for hanging up in case the weight of the garment stretches them. To be absolutely sure that a sweater is the same size and shape after drying, you can draw its outline on a piece of wrapping paper before you wash it, then when it’s ready to dry, put it down over the penciled outline and gently pull it into the required shape as necessary.

Any seams which have become slightly rucked, or buttonhole bands on cardigans which have wrinkled in the wash, can also be pulled back to their proper length just before the drying stage.

Garments made from wool will lose their bounce if you iron them and it shouldn’t be necessary anyway, but you can re-fashion a woolly which has become somewhat shapeless by using a steam iron. This is an at-a-distance’ ironing technique where the metal never actually touches the material.

You may need a surface slightly larger than your ironing board for this. The kitchen table, well covered by a thick blanket, may be suitable. Stretch the garment to the desired shape and fasten it down with pins. Hold your iron half an inch above the wool and let the steam penetrate. Move slowly over the whole surface.

Sometimes the cause can also prove to be the cure. For instance, shine on the seats of skirts and trousers is often caused by ironing. The ‘at-a-distance’ ironing technique can often remove the shine. Hold the iron about an inch above the material, let the steam penetrate for a few minutes and brush lightly with a very soft brush.