Sweater Washin’ Season
Spring is coming on so slowly this year, it reminds me of spring in Western Pa. when I was small. At this time of year, you were as likely to have snow on the ground as not, and the thrill of dressing up in your new Easter Sunday outfit was generally ruined by having to put on your winter coat, mittens, and boots, which looked very strange with your little straw hat covered with flowers. But it’s coming and I know that because it’s sweater-washin’ season at my house.
Every possible surface is covered with fluffy damp wool, waiting for the dampness to evaporate so that I can pack my beloved sweaters in plastic zipper bags until next fall. Frankly, I love this time of year almost as much as I love fall, when all the sweaters come back out and are as good as new. So let’s talk about washing and storing sweaters, which is something I get asked about a lot.
First and last of all, never put your sweaters away dirty. Moth babies are not so much attracted to wool as to the body oils, food, and other stuff that gets trapped in the fibers. Wool is not the only fiber they’ll eat, either – they’ll chew up silk, cotton, alpaca, cashmere and even dirty synthetic blends. So just don’t tempt them!
If you have a washer that you can control, washing sweaters is really easy. Put some like-colored sweaters (as many as you can dry at one time) in the washer, add some Eucalan or other good wool wash that does not require rinsing (please don’t use Woolite – it must be rinsed and is too detergent-y for natural fibers) and fill the washer with cold water. Let it agitate a few times to distribute the wool wash and be sure the sweaters are wet through, then turn off the washer (or pause it if you have a front loader) and let the sweaters sit for 10 minutes or so. More won’t hurt them – go check your e-mail or unload the dishwasher. Now, change the cycle to spin and let the washer get most of the water out.
Carefully take the sweaters out of the washer. Don’t pull them out by the sleeve unless you happen to have one extra-long arm that you need to accommodate. When the fibers are wet, it’s easy to stretch things out of shape and difficult if not impossible to un-stretch them. Handle wet sweaters like you would handle tiny babies, with lots of support for all the straggling parts.
If you don’t have a washer you can stop or pause, fill your sink with cold water, add wool wash and stir it around. Add sweater and gently agitate it to be sure it’s thoroughly soaked and let it sit for 10 minutes or so. Let the water out, and squeeze (no twisting or wringing) as much water out as you can. Lift the sweater out (no stretching) and drop it onto several towels, roll it up and stomp on the bundle to get as much water out as possible.
Take them to wherever you’re going to lay them out to dry, plop them down and spread them out gently. Be a little fussy. Make sure shoulder and side seams are straight, sleeves are the same length, necklines are the way they should be, ribbing is un-stressed (unless you want it to be stretched out. It’s your sweater.) Then leave them alone until they’re perfectly dry.
Now, where to dry? I have a weird little setup in the basement in the room where my furnace and water heater are – they’re older and a little inefficient and until I need to replace them, this small space is fairly warm all year round. I have the screen section of a storm door propped between two boxes plus 2 double layered sweater drying racks that I ordered from Patternworks a donkey’s years ago hanging from the pipes. I can dry 5 sweaters at a time with good air circulation for all of them and that’s important for me especially at this time of year, when I have my own sweaters plus shop models to be washed. During heating season even the heaviest sweater dries in about 2 days. When the furnace isn’t running, maybe 3 days. If you don’t have a rack and must lay your sweaters on a bed or a carpet, turn them over after 2 days and move them so that they dry evenly and nothing gets mildew-y. This is the low-tech way to go, of course, and there are drying closets and racks that work with certain dryers and if you have them, lucky you!
When the sweaters are completely dry – be sure! If it smells like wet wool, it’s still wet – fold them neatly, pat them fondly, and put them into plastic zip bags until the first crisp day next fall. You can put in sachets or cedar or any scent you wish as long as you’re sure they won’t stain, and it will be even more pleasant to unpack your sweaters in a few months.
Yes, I’ve made it seem like a long involved process but it’s not. A lot of it is just waiting until you can do the next step. It might be easier to just dump them at the dry cleaner, but I for one don’t want my lovely sweaters (or my skin) (or the environment) subjected to a bunch of harsh chemicals.
Okay, must run. Our Frequent Buyer Sale starts today – hope to see you there. Janet wants me to remind you all there will be no sock class this Friday morning.
Trish
