Laundry Love: Sweater Care Tips

Sustainability = careful clothing care. Clothes that last longer means less laundry in the landfill. We try to make everything easy to wash… but we’ll be honest: we still sweat a little over sweater care sometimes. 

That's why we went to straight to the experts for our best sweater care secrets!

Lucinda, Sweater Specialist (and Sr. Manager of Production & Fit):

• A tank top underneath minimizes transfer of body odor which = less washing

• Wear wool! Wool has natural anti-microbial attributes which help to keep it fresh. Choose a wool-heavy blend. Merino has a long fiber length which helps to minimize the itchiness factor and pilling

• Fold, don't hang! Folding helps sweaters maintain their shape

• Wash sweaters before storing for the season. I add a few drops of lavender essential oil to the wash water. This provides a clean fresh scent that can deter the critters that like to munch on wool.

• I hand wash sweaters, using a mild soap. After carefully agitating the sweater for a minute or so, I let it sit in the soapy water and then gently squeeze out the water while rinsing the soap out. Then, I turn the sweater over after about half an hour and replace the towel if it's a heavy sweater. (Here are a few more our favorite laundry tips and tricks)

• “I haven’t machine washed a sweater since I accidentally threw my gorgeous turquoise mohair pullover into the washing machine. It came out small enough to fit the neighbor’s dog.” 

Guin, Sweater Whisperer (and Design Director):

• It’s rare that I wash sweaters but I’m definitely known to spill food all over myself. One of the more important things is to spot clean food stains as those are often one of the first things those pesky moth critters go for. 

• Living in a cold climate I often turn over my wardrobes, adding a cedar ball (a natural alternative to moth balls) to my clothes storage containers to deter pests. Another trick is at the end of the winter season on a sunny day, I like to lay my sweaters out to freshen them up in the sun before storing for the summer.  I also like to spend a little time picking off pills in high abrasion areas like armpits so they look fresh the next time I go to wear them. 

• Care instructions know best! Avoid hot water, hand wash, and lay flat to dry. If it shrunk it’s most likely that the care instruction were not followed.