How to restore a woolen item after washing - 4 ways to return clothes to their original appearance

Although it is difficult to restore a woolen item after washing, it is possible; and the methods of achieving the goal depend on what exactly happened to the clothes. Most often, the cause of deformation is immersion in hot water (temperatures above 30°C are contraindicated for wool) and spinning in a machine or twisting by hand.

Getting rid of pellets

As a rule, pills appear on woolen items of poor quality. This does not mean that the yarn was somehow made incorrectly or that the fabric was defective, but that the cheapest types of wool, consisting mainly of guard and dead hairs, were used to make the material.

There are several ways to get rid of pellets:

• If the item is very shaggy, loosely knitted, and the pellets are large, the easiest way to cut them off is with sharp scissors with a thin blade. It is important to remain vigilant so as not to accidentally cut the threads.
• In other cases, you should use a special clipper for cutting pellets. It is inexpensive and very convenient.
• You can also use a regular safety razor - the more blades it has and the sharper they are, the easier it is to get the product in order. In this case, there is a danger of damaging clothing, so you should not use the razor by pressing it too hard against the woven or knitted fabric.
• If there are few pellets, nothing will prevent you from removing them manually, simply tearing them off the threads.This process is somewhat reminiscent of plucking a chicken.

In the future, so that the pellets form in smaller quantities and less actively, you should use special detergents designed for wool for washing. They add components that help soften the fibers and reduce their tangling.

What to do if a woolen item shrinks?

When, after washing, it turns out that the item has become two or three sizes smaller, there is only one thing left to do - burst into bitter tears and give this sweater (dress, hat, suit) to someone for whom it will fit. Or give it to the dolls. Or throw it away if the situation is completely stalemate.

The fact is that wool is the natural hair of animals and consists mainly of proteins. The most famous of them is collagen. Under the influence of high temperature, protein denaturation occurs, as a result of which it loses its usual properties. Stretching woolen clothes that have shrunk after washing in hot water is about the same as turning a hard-boiled egg raw. By the way, so far only scientists from the University of California at Irvine have succeeded in the egg trick, so those who find their item priceless can try their luck by contacting the chemical laboratory there.

If the item is not made of pure wool, but with an admixture of cotton or synthetic fibers, and was washed at a temperature slightly higher than 30°C, you can try to return it to its original size in this way:

• Soak in cold water. If the product has shrunk in the shoulders and neck, it should be completely soaked with water, and if the mentioned areas have not changed, they should be left dry.
• Wrap in a terry towel to remove excess moisture.To speed up this process, you can blot the item with light squeezing movements. It is strictly forbidden to twist it.
• After 7–10 minutes, the item is laid out on a flat surface and begins to be gently stretched in the horizontal and vertical directions. You cannot stretch it vertically - the clothes will lose their shape. Stretching the shoulders and neckline if they remain dry is not necessary and even harmful.
• When the item reaches the desired size, it is hung on a hanger and left to dry in a cool, well-ventilated area. Do not hang near heating devices or other heat sources.

This method is only suitable for knitted items. Products made from woven fabric cannot be restored under any circumstances after shrinkage.

Reducing wool clothing

Woolen items stretch after washing much less often than they shrink. But after twisting (be it manual or machine), the product is guaranteed to increase in size. This is due to the fact that wet wool fibers are easily deformed.

Before drying such clothes, you should make sure that they are stretched lengthwise or widthwise, but not diagonally. If in the first two cases there is a good chance that the item will recover on its own, then it is very difficult to restore the appearance of a sweater or dress that has become “skewed” to one side:

• First you will have to align the product by pulling it in the opposite direction. It’s important not to overdo it, so that a nice size S pullover doesn’t turn into a cover for a T-72 tank. Another risk is that wet wool can tear easily.
• Next, you need to lay the item out on a terry towel or sheet.When unfolding, do not stretch; the canvas must lie freely.
• After this, you should evenly warm up the clothes with hot air from a hairdryer. With luck, this will help her return to her original size and shape. In the worst case, nothing will happen.
• You should not hang enlarged products so that they do not stretch even more under their own weight. Therefore, drying will occur in a horizontal position. Wet towels should be constantly replaced with dry ones and the item should be periodically turned the other side up.

After a single deformation, the probability of the item being restored is an order of magnitude higher than if the item was stretched a second or third time.

What to do if the item “climbs” after washing?

Excessive shedding of wool fibers is associated both with incorrect spinning technology and with the fact that fluff occupies more than 80% of the thread composition. If this phenomenon was not observed before washing, there is every reason to believe that the manufacturer treated the wool before spinning with an adhesive composition, which was washed out under the influence of laundry detergent.

There are no reliable ways to deal with loose hair. You can try to extract the main part of the hair fibers from the fabric:

• a vacuum cleaner with an attachment for upholstered furniture;
• sticky paper roller;
• a furminator (a special comb for animals) or a glove for collecting hair.

It is easier to avoid troubles with woolen items than to eliminate their consequences. To do this, it is enough to follow all the washing and drying rules that are indicated on the label, and also not to buy cheap and low-quality products from nameless manufacturers.