Hand-washing cashmere: how do you clever people all DO THIS??!

[HepburnKNotA]

Am I the only one who seems to have been born without the Ability to Handwash Cashmere (and other delicate knitwear) Gene?!

My main issue is the bloody CRUMPLING.

I don’t want to iron cashmere! (Or do I? Can I?!) But if I don’t (which I don’t) it’s always unattractively rumpled after hand-washing it. I have to squeeze it a lot (gently of course) to get the water out; is there some trick to wring the water out that I don’t know about? Normal gentle squeezing means it dries crumpled!

I leave it to dry flat, on an old towel, after gentle re-shaping.

I mean, what am I doing wrong? Today I am wearing my nice cashmere cardigan that I painstakingly hand washed last week and the main body of it near the buttons just looks crumpled, as if it’s been at the bottom of a pile of heavy laundry for three weeks.

Any advice?!

On the hand wash program on the washing machine.

Yep, also use hand wash setting on the machine

Thanks!!!

But doesn’t that still leave the crumpling issue...?

Shape it gently when you put it to dry, I use Old towels underneath and then iron gently. With steam
But without pressing.

I use the delicates cycle with some fancy non-bio wool-wash liquid stuff, gently pull the jumper into shape [I give the sleeves a bit of a tug to ensure they stay full-length and don't go all three-quarter-y] and dry as flat as possible.
If I need to press any crumples I do it inside out with a very low iron, pressing as lightly as possible.

*goes off in search of further supply of hyphens

Which is what you are doing.

Handwash by agitating gently in water and rinsing the same way. Spot clean any actual marks out first with a damp cloth. Then wring by rolling up in a towel and pressing. Dry flat as you have been doing. This should minimise creasing and you can then either iron on a cool setting inside out (doesn't really work for me) or steaming with the iron from a little distance (this works perfectly for me) while it is hanging up and inside out.

Aha, this is helpful!!

So I CAN v gently iron it? Through a tea-towel or something maybe?

Well, I do. Haven’t had any problems until now.

Lay the wet item out on a large towel. Then fold in the sides of the towel, roll up and squeeze to remove excess water. Then lay flat to dry. Or just bung it in the washing machine on wool wash and hope for the best, which is what I do.

I use the pink hand wash from Waitrose which is for wool and cashmere. I hand wash or put cashmere in one of those zip material bags to protect washing in machine and wash on a very gentle wool wash, mainly cold. Then I hang it over one side of my glass shower in spare room (so it is half over each side so it doesn't stretch). I turn inside out and iron. I've had my cashmere for about 4 years, it is really expensive and it still looks like new. I wear a layer under it to make it last between washes.

If you treat your cashmere very gently it will last years.

Thank you everyone.

I am astounded and delighted in equal measure that it’s ok to iron it!!

Major turning point for me, I’m embarrassed to say.

I use a delicate wash detergent on a cool wool wash on the delicates cycle. Then to fluff up I tumble dry for a minute or two and then hang on a hanger. I have loads of Cashmere including some expensive bits and they have all been fine.

slightly going off topic but wondered if anyone had JCRew cashmere & whether worth it & how much to size up ? TIA

Get yourself a steamer. Even handheld travel steamers will do the job nicely.

I have quite a few cashmere jumpers this is what I do and always have done.

Fill a sink half full with cold water
Squirt Fairy Liquid in
Put jumper in and submerge it
Leave for about an hour
Squeeze out water
Put into wash machine and put on spin cycle
Put onto radiator

Perfect

Seriously it totally works. Have trained OH to do do his couple. Well so easy.

It's fine to iron it. I wash mine on the handwash setting in the washing machine in a jumper bag. I dry them over a delicate jumper mesh rack but I don't think this is actually at all necessary.

www.amazon.co.uk/Leifheit-72408-Clothes-Drying-Sensitive/dp/B0029F1Q66?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Can you hang it on a hanger to dry?

I try to wash it as little as possible as wool doesn’t hold odours and anti bacterial but if I do I use the wool cycle in the machine and dry flat, prefably outside in a hot sunny day.

Roll it in a towel to get excess water out

Hang it outside between wears to air and only wash occasionally

What @myolivetree does but I use shampoo preferably baby shampoo but any shampoo I am fed up with will do.

Oh no no no

Gently wash working cashmere shampoo into fabric. Then squeeze from top to bottom gently. Rinse until water runs clear. Then that's it. On a hanger above a bath or in a shower to dry. Let gravity do the work.

I find soak is the best hand-wash for HW only items, no rinsing needed. I roll the item up in a towel after, as if I was making a Swiss roll, then leave it to dry flat.

Hand wash in woollen wash liquid - tepid - letting it soak for 10-15 mins. Rinse thoroughly. Hand wring. Lay flat on a towel horizontally on a lakeland airer. Use a steam gen iron, hardly touching it to smooth out any creases. Hang on a padded hanger to air for last 24 hours. Light anti moth spray. Hang in cupboard with lavender sachet thingies.