How to Take Care of a Handmade Sweater

Are you a first-time owner of a handmade sweater and nervous about how to care for your new wool baby? Or perhaps you’ve always wondered how best to care for that wool sweater you already own, and you’re not sure where to start.

Look no further! In this article we’ll share tips on how to take care of your handmade sweater, cardigan or vest. But first, we’ll go over the reasons why natural fibers like wool deserve a little bit of extra care.

What is Different About Caring for Wool?

Our clothing is made from 100% natural, 100% renewable and totally biodegradable wool. Because wool is a natural fiber and is naturally moisture repellent (meaning it does not retain odors), it does not need washed. You’ll find that you’ll be able to get quite a few wears in before needing to freshen up the garment.

How to Keep Your Wool Garment Fresh

You will not need to fully wash your wool garment, unless you're out rolling in the dirt or mud! (If you are, maybe take the sweater off... But it can always be hand washed in cool water.)

If your sweater needs a quick pick-me-up refresh, use a clothing steamer! The nice thing about non-synthetic fibers is that they won’t melt with a steaming, so you can confidently go over your garment with steam to freshen it up. Just be careful not to linger too long in one spot, as steaming can cause the wool to felt.

If your garment has a small stain, try picking it out first by gently plucking some of the fibers away. If that does not work, or it's a larger stain, you can hand wash the sweater in cool water with a mild detergent, or one that is meant for wool. 

How to Deal with Pilling on a Wool Sweater

Have you ever bought a wool rug and noticed that for the first few months of vacuuming, the entire vacuum is full of wool fibers? But that, after a while, the shedding decreases as the rug becomes a bit more “lived in”? It’s the same with your wool sweater.

Shedding or pilling is a completely normal situation for wool, and don’t worry, it won’t last forever and you can learn how to manage it.

After the first few wears, you will start to notice your garment is pilling or shedding more. This is totally normal and to be expected. The friction caused by wearing an item will move the fibers around and in effect, loosen them up a bit. So you’ll see a lot of pilling in places like the sides under your arms, as well as on the sleeves.

To combat shedding and pilling, we recommend using a manual wool shaver, as opposed to a battery-operated one. The battery shavers tend to not do well with chunkier yarn, but with a manual shaver you can easily go over spots that you need to fix. Plus, it’s easy to pack with you on a trip or keep in your front entryway for a quick refresh when you’re heading out the door.

Follow the instructions on the shaver when you are using it and try it out on an inconspicuous spot first. And yes, in case you were wondering, it is extremely satisfying to do.

How to Store a Wool Sweater

There are a number of enemies of wool, but three especially come to mind: Washing machines, clothing hangers, and moths. That’s why it’s important to know how to store your wool garment when you’re not wearing it.

First of all, if you are hanging a wool garment in your closet, you’re running the risk of stretching it out in two ways: lengthwise (the weight of the garment pulls it down and the fibers pull along with it), and in the shoulders (the hanger pushing into the shoulders will eventually reshape them and cause weird pointy areas).

While not so prominent with our sweater vests or ruffle tanks because of how lightweight they are, the risk of stretching is especially high with our cardigans. You’ll start to see the shoulders get droopier and the length becoming less cropped. To avoid this, simply store your garment folded.

Lastly, natural fibers like wool are comfy cozy for us, but beware: they are also comfy cozy for moths, too. If you’re storing your garments in a basement closet, either put them in garment bags or keep moth balls in there too. Moths will chew holes in your sweater and from there, it will begin to unravel. What. A. Tragedy.

Honestly, it doesn’t hurt to use these protective measures wherever you store your wool garments. After all, our goal here at Happy Thought Knits is to make you an article of clothing that lasts for years to come. And we want to see you wear it again and again!