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?!

I rarely wash mine, they honestly don't need it. But when I do, they go in the machine with a wool detergent, then laid flat on a bath towel to dry.

If you're handwashing, don't squeeze your knit out by hand too much or you'll make creases. Make it into a swiss roll in a towel and sit on it.

Your arse irons it while squeezing water out.

Won’t your arse get wet though?

I use the wool cycle on the machine, inside out, dry either over a radiator or on a towel next to one. Cool iron inside out. I never dry knitwear on hangers because they end up with hanger bumps on the shoulders!

bealola I have a grey J-Crew cashmere crew-neck which is SO soft and cosy. I’m a UK 10, and got M. It’s slightly over-sized, and if I was buying another I would probably get S. I’m quite hippy and like a fitted top half for balance.

What a load of palavering. I've always washed mine on a wool cycle with wool/silk detergent, hang over a banister rail or similar to dry. Never had a problem, and I've been buying 'expensive' cashmere for years. You just have to be brave. It's not Unicorn hair!

And whilst if shouldn't be washed too much, it should be washed fairly regularly as moths love dirty cashmere.

Woolite in the machine on a hand wash cycle. Dry over the back of a chair or similar. And steam when dry if it's a bit wrinkly.

I never ever hand wash anything, regardless of what the label says. Rarely bother dry cleaning either.

What a good idea about drying in a towel!

I hate hand-wash items as they drip all over the floor when you hang them up. It's all right in the summer when they're outside, but in the winter (just when you might be wearing a jumper) you don't want excess water everywhere.

Machine washing is a bit hit or miss, I find. I put a White Company jumper on the hand-wash cycle and it came about just about the right size for a Barbie.

look up blocking

I find my delicates cycle is better than the wool cycle. Agree with the Swiss roll theory. Also I do try and dry them flat on one of those airers.

Often iron them on a cool iron inside out! Once worked for a high end bridal couturier, it really taught me a lesson in not being scared of the iron, she was always flinging it on to the right side of priceless duchess silk satin worth £££/m!

Wash on delicate cycle money use a very small load to prevent creasing. Tumble dry on cool for 3/4 minutes only. Dry flat or on a good quality hanger that won’t stretch the shoulders out of shape.

Some PPs said dry on the radiator but ime I don’t recommend this- the heat can make the cashmere shrink.

My jumpers etc have never shrunk on the radiator.

Only lovely and soft and never out of shape and creased!
Interesting to hear about the ironing but have NEVER had the need.

Wool setting in the machine and get it out as soon as it has finished. Then dry flat.

Oh yes, agree re small load. I only ever wash 4 or 5 at a time (in an 8kg capacity drum).

Eucalan is non-rinse, you just soak the jumper as long as you like, then do the rolling in a towel. I have lots of vintage cashmere jumpers and this makes them soft and lovely. Recently I have been using The Laundress fibre wash (hard to find though) and they recommend rinsing. Dry flat on an airer, on a towel to avoid lines. I have rarely needed to iron, but steam is best.

Wait, what is all this non rinse stuff? So what happens to the dirt and soapy water???

I hand wash and then dry flat on a towel. I always iron cashmere and other wool jerseys; I use a steam iron but put the jersey under a large cotton handkerchief or tea towel, so that the iron doesn't actually touch the wool.

You roll it in a towel to dry. Lay it nice and flat. Them roll up the towel and sweater like a cinnamon roll. Squeeze roll gently. Unroll. Occasionally you will need to repeat with a second towel.

claude it really is non-rinse! The dirt gets soaked out and tipped away with the water. It's not really a foamy wash, and it only uses a small amount of Eucalan in tepid water. I have used it many times. You can use it for sheepskin rugs etc. The eucalyptus seems to be the magic ingredient, and it helps deter moths.

Nothing to add except cry over the memory of my beautiful American Vintage crew neck cashmere sweater that became an all-you-can-eat-buffet for moths last year whilst waiting in the laundry basket for a few weeks.

quietly sobs

I suppose I'm not buying the Toast-level cashmere (although do have some White Company stuff that felt pricey to me - but lots of my jumpers are cashmere and I don't stress about it.

They go on a wool cycle in the washing machine with wool detergent and normal fabric softener, then they get hung either on an airer or on hangers to dry. They all look absolutely fine.

Never rinse. 😁

And whilst if shouldn't be washed too much, it should be washed fairly regularly as moths love dirty cashmere.

My moths prefer the merino, and leave the cashmere alone.
Merino is cheaper to replace I suppose.