What should a hard wearing jumper be made of?

[Beforetheend]

I have a few cashmere jumpers that are great for winter warmth but I also need some jumpers that are a bit more hardwearing. Any idea what fabric composition to look for?

I bought a couple of cheap jumpers - one from F&F and one from Primark that didn’t make it to the first wash without becoming bally and too scruffy looking to wear in public,

The Community clothing Scottish lambswool jumpers are amazing. They are twice as thick as most lambswool, sort of densely knitted, soft, hardly bobble at all. Just put mine on today for the first time this winter. Feels like I should be out building a dry stone wall in it.

They are hand wash but you can machine spin so would probably be ok on a delicate cycle.

I have a Phillips one which I love. I'd definitely get one that is a USB chargeable, definitely don't want to fiddle with batteries.

Wool. I find cashmere really hard wearing! I also have wool and polyamide mix jumpers which are going strong

Native sheep wools last longer, currently wearing one of these which may well be ten years old https://www.blacksheepknitwear.com/products/sm01-smuggler

Lots of wool will bobble after a couple of washes. Remember wool does not need frequent washing. It is just the short hairs coming out. De-bobbler comb and wine sorts it.

Merino needs mixing with 20-30% nylon / polymide to make it hard wearing.

Acrylic does tend to bobble.

Lots of mixes also bobble (at the beginning of their lives), most are sorted with a good de-bobble and the job does not need to be repeated more than once a year.

Merino has been my go to for years. They tend to be quite thin, but warm. The winter equivalent of a T-shirt. Last year Marks and Spencer were doing good ones for a reasonable price, machine washable. Colour a bit limited, bit I be back again this year.

Yeah I've got a couple of these and they're good.

Merino for sure. Warm, can layer, and doesn't bobble.

Lambs wool is very soft but bobbles very quickly.

For max warmth you can't beat a fairisle or Scandinavian hand knit. I use Norwegian jumpers for my winter post sea swim warm up.

I get my Norwegian knits from a local vintage shop.

I bought a couple of merino and a lambswool sweater and they have got little holes in them . Made in UK, not cheap.

Meanwhile I've got an acrylic sweater from Asda I've had for at least 10 years and it's still going strong .

That's because moths don't like acrylic 😊 just get some rentokil strips

No jumpers are hard wearing imo. For this reason, I tend to wear sweatshirts in the house, and keep my wool and cashmere jumpers for when I go out.