Long wear, improper washing and subsequent drying, careless attitude - all these are the main reasons for stretching and irregular shape of the sweater. With this attitude, absolutely any thing, even not knitted, quickly loses its shape and turns into something shapeless. Fortunately, there are many ways not to throw away a deformed item, but to restore its original shape. What should I do if my knitted sweater has stretched after washing?
Why does a thing lose its shape?
The main reasons for stretching things after washing include the wrong mode of washing and subsequent drying. Additional reasons not related to the washing machine are wearing things for too long and bad habits of the person himself. Many people like to stretch the sleeves, pull the bottom tightly on the hips, wrap the neck - this is done first of all to feel more comfortable and warm. But when doing such manipulations with a thing, it is important to remember that this will not pass without a trace for it - stretching will appear on certain parts of the product.
The speed of stretching things and losing their shape also depends on the density of the loops. For example, if it was created by machine knitting, it is characterized by high density and resistance to stretching. If we talk about warm hand-knitted sweaters, then we should note the weak density of the loops. Moreover, there is no way to avoid such density. Every hand-knitted product loses its shape much faster than other things.
Sellers of knitwear are advised not to neglect the information from manufacturers, which is indicated on the label or packaging, before washing, drying and wearing the product. You can also find similar information on the official website. How to shrink a stretched sweater after washing? To do this, there are universal and effective ways to restore things.
Is it possible to return to the previous form?
Unfortunately, not all mechanically damaged tissue can be reversed. There are certain materials that are not recoverable at all, or only in certain cases:
- Acrylic, cotton and synthetic-backed items do not recover at all;
- you can try to bring back cashmere, wool and mixed fibers with more wool.
Restoring the shape of things
If a wool sweater stretches after washing, what should I do? You can restore the shape of a thing and its size immediatelyseveral methods.
If, after washing, a machine-knitted sweater has lost its original structure, then to restore it, you just need to re-place the product in the washing machine, observing the following rules:
- before throwing a thing into the drum, you need to put it in a special bag;
- pour wool detergent into the powder compartment;
- activate quick wash;
- set the minimum temperature - only 30 degrees is enough;
- before starting, be sure to turn off the spin mode - use the simple water drain function;
- disable automatic drying of clothes;
- at the end of washing, the sweater is taken out of the bag and gently wrung out by hand.
Improve the shape after repeated washing
Sweater stretched after washing - what to do? When refurbishing a product, you need to perform a number of the following actions:
- The sweater is neatly laid out on a towel or cloth.
- Further, the owner gives the thing a look that he considers ideal - the fabric is pulled up in the sleeve area, the waist is tightened and the neckline is neatly folded. To do this, you need to place your palms on things and carefully, gradually grabbing the material, move them towards each other, preventing the formation of wrinkles. Smoothing things begins with a seam, then gradually move to the neck and sleeves, then affect the remaining areas of the fabric.
- You can see the result immediately after the thing is completely dry. Sweater notwill lose the shape that the owner tried to give it at the time of reconstruction. It is important not to miss anything, recreating the volume of things anew.
Some sweater wearers try to shrink it down a few sizes by washing. To do this, experts advise simply washing things in a typewriter at a high temperature.
At the time of drying, it is important to pay special attention to the condition of the bedding-towel. Immediately after it gets wet, it is important to remove it and lay out a new thing under the thing. When shifting the sweater, you need to re-give the desired shape. If you don't change wet towels, dampness can cause a bad smell in your sweater.
Improve the shape with your own hands
What to do - the sweater stretched after washing? This problem can be solved by another method - to act manually. To do this, follow these steps:
- The tub is filled with some warm water.
- The stretched thing is neatly laid out on the surface of the water. In this case, you need to wait a bit so that the sweater has time to soak in the liquid.
- After getting wet, the water descends.
- Thing is wrung out.
- The sweater is wrapped in a terry towel and wrung out again. All actions must be careful, twisting is prohibited.
- The wet thing is laid out on a towel in the same way as in the first case. The main thing is to give the sweater the most correct shape instead of stretched.
- If all the steps were performed correctly, then at the moment of drying the sweaterwill restore its shape and size.
Some people dry things differently - right on themselves. Of course, it is possible to restore a thing with the help of socks on the body, but the owner is unlikely to feel good. It is best to restore a thing using this method if there is a mannequin nearby with approximately the same parameters, which will help reproduce the shape of the figure and return to its previous shape.
It is important to remember that when using this method, a thing can continue to dry for a day, and sometimes longer - this directly depends on the density of the material. It is forbidden to try to speed up the drying process by moving the product to the battery, heated towel rail or heating device - this will ruin the thing (you will have to throw it away).
Partial recovery
If after washing, drying or wearing only a certain part of the sweater has lost its shape, then you can use the following method:
- wet the damaged fabric with water spray;
- carefully lay out the sweater on a towel or terry cloth;
- reshape the lost area;
- after a few hours, the sweater will have a uniform texture and the right size.
A hair dryer will help speed up the drying process of the product. But only cold air flow is allowed for this. Hot jets can only damage the fabric and make it unusable.
Additional methods
Sweater stretched after washing - what to do? If the previous methods did not fixsituation, the following measures are taken:
- If a thing stretched slightly as a result of long wear, then it will be easy to give it its previous shape by washing in cold water and drying in a horizontal position.
- The sweater is soaked in hot water for 10-15 minutes, a special detergent for washing woolen items is added. After soaking, hand wash. Then, for 20 minutes, the thing is left in cold water, after squeezing, but not unscrewing the fabric. The sweater is dried on a horizontal rack. After all the excess water is glass, the thing is carefully laid out on a dry towel, sheet or any other fabric. After it is given the desired shape.
Place in hot water
Knitted sweater stretched after washing - what to do? A good result can be achieved if the sweater is placed in hot water (almost boiling water) for five minutes. After moving into a basin with cold water - you can additionally throw ice cubes into the container and add vinegar to acidify the liquid. Leave the item for 10 minutes. Then take it out and hang it over the bathtub to drain excess water. Further, as in previous cases, the thing is laid out on a dry cloth with giving the correct shape.
Going to the dry cleaners
If the item contains 100% natural wool, then you can restore its condition in dry cleaning. The former size and shape will be returned by heat treatment of the product and washing in high temperature water. The main disadvantage of the method is that at the end of the procedure, the wool on the product will be matted, and the color will be of poor quality.
Drying on a hot appliance
Knitted sweater stretched after washing - what to do? The most extreme way is drying on a hot appliance. The product may return to its original shape, but additional problems may appear.
Do not tumble dry when washing wool items. This mode in most cases only spoils the product.
