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Here’s How to Unshrink a Sweater

and Salvage Your Go-To Outfits
We hope you haven’t tossed it yet, because this works.

Country Living | Maria Carter

Photo by photo by dasar/Getty Images

It’s a lazy laundry day as normal as any, until your heart Manage
sinks as you fold
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your go-to merino wool sweater and it’s a third of the size it was before the
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wash cycle. Or, maybe your spouse assumed laundry duty

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accidentally put
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there. Perhaps you even got distracted and didn’t hear the timer go off.

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Here’s How to Unshrink a Sweater and Salvage Your Go-To Outfits https://getpocket.com/explore/item/here-s-how-to-unshrink-a-sweater-a...

Accidents happen, and we’ve all unfortunately had our fair share of
clothing washing woes. There’s the classic “turning your white sheets pink
from a leftover red sock,” or “mistakenly taking the ‘dry clean only’ tag as a
suggestion.” We’d argue though, that shrinking your clothes takes the cake
as one of the most frustrating things to happen in the laundry room (yes,
worse than learning how to clean an iron, how to clean a dryer vent, or—
gasp—how to clean a washing machine).

If you happen to find yourself in this situation and are frantically Googling
“how to unshrink a sweater,” not all hope is lost. Even if your favorite
cashmere ends up looking like it belongs to your six-year-old niece after a
wash or dry, don’t toss it or buy a new one. Dry your tears, because there’s
a magical solution for stretching your best knitwear back to its former
glory (even more magical than a laundry egg!). And it’s a safe bet you
already have the sweater-saving tools on hand at home.

So, first thing’s first—take a deep breath, and hold off on dumping that
hoodie in the donation pile just yet. Try this simple trick to bring wool,
cotton, cashmere, or any other natural fiber clothing item back to life.
(That includes cotton T-shirts, many sweaters, and jeans, all of which you
should be able to bring back to their original, stretched-out state—but
note that you’ll have less luck with material blends and synthetic fibers.)
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Fillpersonalized
a sinkonwith lukewarm
other websites. Learn more water and a capful of baby or
hair conditioner.

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Here’s How to Unshrink a Sweater and Salvage Your Go-To Outfits https://getpocket.com/explore/item/here-s-how-to-unshrink-a-sweater-a...

If you’re unshrinking a wool sweater, you may need more conditioner

—about 1/3 of a cup. You can also use a gentle wool wash like Eucalan or
Woolite for delicates.

Add the sweater and let it soak for 10 minutes.

This will relax the clothing’s fibers.

Drain the sink of water.

Leave the clothing item inside the sink during this step. Once it’s fully
drained, gently squeeze the garment, removing excess water. Do not rinse
it with clean water or wring it dry.

Place a bath towel on a flat surface and lay the sweater

over it.
Roll the towel up, with the clothing in it, to absorb more water. The
garment should be damp, but not wet.

Place the sweater on a fresh, dry towel.

Gently stretch the sweater to its original shape while it’s still damp. Keep it
Manage
flatYour
until it dries,
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Can I unshrink
personalized wool
on other websites. Learnand
more other clothing items?

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Here’s How to Unshrink a Sweater and Salvage Your Go-To Outfits https://getpocket.com/explore/item/here-s-how-to-unshrink-a-sweater-a...

Wondering how to unshrink wool socks, or maybe even your favorite

merino wool throw? The same process holds true—you’ll just need to
adjust your water and conditioner ratio accordingly. For smaller apparel
items, including wool hats, use about a dime size of conditioner. As for a
larger piece of knitwear, depending on the size, consider moving to the
bathtub for more room. According to Wool Me, you can also toss in a bit of
mild detergent to help freshen up the fabric.

This post originally appeared on Country Living and was published January 17, 2020. This
article is republished here with permission.

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