washing wool jumpers

[MacLowlife]

I have several jumpers / sweaters made of cotton or cotton and linen that have stretched. Can anyone recommend a method of controlled shrinkage to restore their shape?

[Paul Henry]

I have several jumpers / sweaters made of cotton or cotton and linen that have stretched. Can anyone recommend a method of controlled shrinkage to restore their shape?

I've had exactly the same problem, they seem to be just about ok, immediately after washing,but they do seem to grow with wearing.

I normally wash in a hot(ish) cycle in a machine, drying flat.
If any one has a magic solution , I'll be grateful to hear it as well

[auld argonian]

I have several jumpers / sweaters made of cotton or cotton and linen that have stretched. Can anyone recommend a method of controlled shrinkage to restore their shape?

I've had some luck putting the cotton based ones in the dryer on low and setting a timer for fifteen minutes or so so that I can get downstairs and get it out of the still running dryer while it's still warm but not completely dry.
At that point, I either put it on the rack or just toss it over the wider towel bar in the bathroom na let it dry the rest of the way. The heat tends to bring it back into shape but since I don't dry it all the way, it doesn't shrink down too much.

I did the same thing accidentally with a pair of the Bridgedale Blaxnit socks that I use for kilt hose and it got them back into shape and sort of tamed the fuzziness that they were beginning to exhibit.

Also, for the sweater and kilt washing crowd:

http://www.eucalan.com/


Best

AA

[MacBean]

as no one has mentioned it ... my Mom uses a wooden sweater stretcher. It's a flat wooden torso with pivoting arms. The sweater is physically limited from shrinking overmuch.