Wool jumpers shrunk - Help sought

Mr.Frame

Not sure if I am posting this in the correct forum. Mods if not perhaps you could move it to the correct one.

Im looking for some help/advice.

I just washed some wool jumpers in the washing machine in the "wool wash", however, they came out shrunken.

Can anyone help me/give advice as to how if at all I can "unshrink" them and get them back to the way they are suppose to be?

thanks in advance

greasepalm

Not sure if its possible as i had the same issue,using hot wash and wrong detergent as one is suppose to use cool wash and wool detergent.Not 100% sure on spin drying on fast mode but clothes have tags for guidance for what to use.

Mr.Frame

greasepalm wrote: »

Not sure if its possible as i had the same issue,using hot wash and wrong detergent as one is suppose to use cool wash and wool detergent.Not 100% sure on spin drying on fast mode but clothes have tags for guidance for what to use.

Thats the thing I followed the guidance tags!

El Tarangu

Apparently, you can unshrink clothes by soaking them in fabric softener and warm water for a few hours, and then gently stretching them out, you can find articles online about it.

Disclaimer: I've never actually tried this myself, YMMV

Addle

Would you try returning them to where they were bought?

Nothing you can do personally to restore them.

dobman88

They're ruined unfortunately. Even trying to stretch them out or whatever you will never get them back to their original shape and they will look terrible. I worked in a dry cleaners for 3 years and we had this problem with people washing wool at home regularly.

Not much use now but in future, take any wool products or anything you're unsure of to a dry cleaners, it's worth paying the extra for the peace of mind that if something goes wrong, they will replace the item for you as my boss had to do a few.times.

fritzelly

Does Mrs Frame know yet?

kirving

I ruined a wool jumper recently, completely my own fault. It got mixed in with a load of mountain biking gear that I washed twice in a row.

Advice was to put a load of fabric conditioner in the sink, lukewarm water, mix it all up. Then fold the jumper so it will fit in without being squashed. Leave for a few hours.

Take out and pull it straight as best you can, then let it dry flat on a table

It certainly helped a lot, but not enough to save the jumper.

meeeeh

I shrunk plenty of things. Especially annoying when you wash a cashmere jumper by mistake. My washing machine automatically sets wool wash at 40 degrees and I think it's hot. And use detergent for wool and delicates. I always wash wool at lowest temperature (Uniqlo jumpers which are cheap and can be machine washed.) I also washed wool trousers that were dry clean only on a cold wool cycle. More expensive stuff is hand washed or sent to be dry cleaned. There is no point in risking it.

I never managed to stretch anything enough to save it.

Mr.Frame

Thanks all for the replies.

I will try the fabric conditioner and see how it goes. I was though talking with a friend this evening and she suggested hair conditioner.!!??!

Day Lewin

The wool will never be the same again.

You can use the felted fabric as a cat blanket or make pot-holders out of it.

Wool needs a short wash in very cool water, a short slow spin.

Or better, handwash with Woolite or a liquid detergent (rinses out better)

Speedsie

Day Lewin wrote: »

Or better, handwash with Woolite or a liquid detergent (rinses out better)

Or use a product like 'soak', pricy, but worth it for delicates like Cashmere. A bottle lasts for ages.

https://soakwash.com/

https://springwools.com/soak-wash-375ml.html

Mr.Frame

Speedsie wrote: »

Or use a product like 'soak', pricy, but worth it for delicates like Cashmere. A bottle lasts for ages.

https://soakwash.com/

https://springwools.com/soak-wash-375ml.html

thank you

dee_mc

Speedsie wrote: »

Or use a product like 'soak', pricy, but worth it for delicates like Cashmere. A bottle lasts for ages.

https://soakwash.com/

https://springwools.com/soak-wash-375ml.html

I bought a sachet of this stuff a while back, planning to use it on my wool and cashmere blends etc. My one worry is, will it neutralise slight sweat odour? It kind of sounds too good to be true and this seems like the most likely issue!

Speedsie

dee_mc wrote: »

I bought a sachet of this stuff a while back, planning to use it on my wool and cashmere blends etc. My one worry is, will it neutralise slight sweat odour? It kind of sounds too good to be true and this seems like the most likely issue!

Hi Dee MC, just seeing your question now!

I can't say that I've noticed any sweat odour in jumpers after using soak. As you already have a sachet, perhaps it's worth giving it a whirl?

I don't suppose anyone happens to know of a service where they try to rescue shrunken jumpers?

I have two that I'd love to save. Tried stretching one myself and did a pretty good job, but it would have been much better if I had a big cork board to pin in to as advice states

SixtaWalthers

If you used delicate washing detergent then there shouldn't be any such issue. By the way, your wool jumper owns the tag of a washing machine?

If I share my experience then I always wash new wool outfits with hand wash method.

bertiebomber

i shrunk an aran sweater in a wool wash in the machine so i asked Blarney woolen mills about it and they said no pure wool sweater should go into a machine ever even a wool cycle its the rotations that do the damage they are no t really gentle. I shrunk a medium aran so small it would fit a pug now i dry clean the new one i bought.

wildwillow

The friction of the machine causes shrinking even in a cold wash. Pure wool should be gently hand washed, handling as little as possible and dried flat away from direct heat.

Superwash wool should be ok in a wool wash in the machine as it is treated not to shrink.

Always err on the side of caution when reading the wash instructions on the tags.

Feltmakers use heat and friction to achieve shrinkage.

amandstu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/115713068#Comment_115713068

I just washed an old woolen blanket in a cold machine wash and am disappointed that it seems to have shrunk marginally (about 10% along the length and along the height)

This seems understandable now from the quoted post. (@wildwillow )

I wonder if the slightly shrunk version is less usable than before in terms of warmth?

Will it be slightly thicker to make up for the loss in size or wil it be that bit heavier and so less warm?

They can be expensive to buy .I was quoted about 100eu from Foxford. Wool and I have about 10 or more of them that I don't want to damage.