Random question for August-washing sweaters

[persa]

How would you wash a huge stack of sweaters? It's cold at my workplace and apparently when a cardigan I've worn gets dirty, instead of washing it I just go out and buy a new one...

So now I have a laundry basket full of knits and I don't know if my only option is to hand wash and lay flat each.and.every.one separately or if there's possible a way to do this more efficiently.

[kris356]

I wash mine in the washer on delicate in cold and hang dry. But to answer your question, yes, I lay each one out individually but I don't wash them individually. I usually cover my dining room table in towels and lay them out.

[natablue]

I wash them all together on gentle cycle (cold water), and dry them on a laundry rack.

[persa]

So do you put it through the spin cycle or no? I have a front loader if that makes a difference.

I've only washed sweaters in the wash once and they shrunk so so bad so I'm a little afraid to do it.

[carylee07]

Aug 3, 2013 13:37:10 GMT -5 persa said:

So do you put it through the spin cycle or no? I have a front loader if that makes a difference.

I've only washed sweaters in the wash once and they shrunk so so bad so I'm a little afraid to do it.

Make sure you're washing them on cold. Usually if you select the delicate cycle, the cycle is shorter and it washes and rinses on cold, but double check to be sure. I use a drying rack and only when they are fully dry will I put them in the dryer with no heat to fluff them, or just use my steamer on them.

If you're afraid, test only a couple first before you wash your whole basket!

[FormerCityGirl]

I wash the ones that can be washed on delicate in these bags.  If I don't have enough bags, I just throw the older ones that I don't care about in without bags.  I only use cold water in the wash and rinse.  I lay them flat to dry on these.  If they have linen, silk, or something else that doesn't wash well and say to dry clean, then that's what I do.   

[captainmel]

The fiber content of the sweater matters more than the knit factor.
If it is wool you can wash them by hand in your tub with some shampoo.
If it is cotton or a synthetic I would wash in cold water and hang dry.

[315]

For light sweaters, I wash in cold and hang on my drying rack. For heavier sweaters, I wash in woolens cycle or by hand and dry on sweater dryer.

[persa]

FormerCityGirl,that hanging dryer is freaking brilliant and just found its way into my Amazon shopping cart!

captainmel, that's good to know. The J crew sweaters that shrank ages ago were wool.

[captainmel]

persa - wool is just hair so it works really well. It is the agitation that causes shrinking so just don't wring them out too forcefully and use cool water.