A folded lambswool jumper beside wool detergent flakes and a garment brush
Cool water, wool detergent, dried flat. Hanging a wet knit is what ruins the shoulders.

Knitwear does not wear out from being worn. It wears out from being washed, and from being hung up. Get those two right and a good jumper outlives most of a wardrobe.

Wash less than you think

Wool is naturally odour-resistant and self-cleaning to a degree — airing a jumper overnight does more than washing it. Most pieces need washing three or four times a season, not after every wear. Spot-clean a mark rather than washing the whole garment for it.

Washing

  • Lambswool, merino and wool cashmere blend — hand wash in cool water with a wool-specific detergent, or a wool cycle at 30°C in a mesh bag. Never biological detergent: the enzymes digest protein fibre. No fabric conditioner either — it coats the fibre and kills the loft.
  • Alpaca wool blend — hand wash only, and support the weight when you lift it out of the water. Wet alpaca is heavy and stretches easily.
  • Organic cotton — machine wash 30°C with like colours, inside out. Cotton knit is more robust than wool but loses shape faster if you hang it wet.

Drying is where jumpers die

Never tumble dry. Heat and agitation felt the fibre permanently — a felted jumper does not come back. Press the water out between two towels without wringing, reshape while damp on a flat surface, and dry flat away from radiators and direct sun. Hanging a wet knit stretches the shoulders and lengthens the body, and that is not reversible either.

Storing

Fold, never hang — a hanger drags the shoulders out over a season. Store clean: moths are drawn to skin oils, sweat and food traces, not to clean wool. Cedar or lavender in the drawer helps; a sealed box for the summer works better.

Pilling

Pills are short loose fibres working to the surface. They are heaviest in the first few wears and then settle — a new jumper pilling is normal, not faulty. Remove them with a knit comb or fabric shaver, working in one direction. Never pull them off: that drags a longer yarn out of the knit and turns a pill into a hole.

Snags

Do not cut a snag. Work the loop through to the inside with a blunt needle and the knit closes over it. A cut yarn keeps unravelling.

Reshaping and repairs

Cuffs and hems that have relaxed usually recover after a cool wash and being reshaped flat while damp. A dropped stitch or a small hole is a quick job for any knitwear repairer and far cheaper than replacing the piece — catch it early, before the ladder runs.

Questions about a specific piece

Each product page lists the care instruction for that yarn. Where a garment label and this page disagree, follow the label — email support@woolbarn.shop and we will confirm.

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Registered office: 22 Ronald Road, Birmingham, B9 4UL, United Kingdom
Email: support@woolbarn.shop
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