Whilst wool is naturally stain, odour and crease resistant there will be times when you will want to freshen up your wool knitwear. Luckily, advances in modern technology and detergents mean that it’s now easier than ever before to wash wool products without ruining them. Gone are the days when wool could only be dry cleaned or aired out to give it a breath of fresh air!

Depending on the product, the care label will specify whether it can be machine washed or hand washed, but before you do either we’d suggest you follow a few simple measures to ensure your wool products stay in great condition:

1. Turn your hats, gloves & jumpers inside out to wash them

2. Avoid biological detergents, bleaches or ‘whitening’ products

3. Wash similar colours together – be sure to wash light colours separately to dark colours

Blog_Image_521x347 (1).jpg — **Machine Washing Wool**

If the care label says that you can machine wash your wool product, then it means it can safely be washed in a washing machine without any shrinkage. To ensure successful machine washing of wool, we’d suggest following the below steps.

1. Ensure your jumper, hat or pair of gloves are turned inside out before putting them in the machine

2. Use a wool setting, cold water or ‘delicates’ cycle if your machine does not have a specific wool setting. Never wash in high temperatures

3. Use a neutral, mild detergent. Try to find one that is recommended by Woolmark

wool_fibres — **Hand Washing Wool**

If your wool product’s care label says hand wash only, then in our experience just follow these few steps for hassle-free hand washing.

1. Ensure your jumper, hat or pair of gloves are turned inside out

2. Fill your sink or basin with clean, lukewarm water, approximately 30°C

3. Use a mild and gentle detergent & soak for approximately 10 minutes

4. Rinse thoroughly, firstly in more clean lukewarm water, then give it a final cold water rinse

Blog_Image_521x347 (2).jpg — **Drying Wool**

Finally, when drying a freshly washed wool product we recommend air drying it flat, ideally on top of a light-coloured lint free towel.

We don’t recommend hanging wool products over a radiator, even if it a small pair of gloves. Try to avoid direct sunlight, magnified sunlight (close to an outside window) or direct heat.

If your care label indicates that it can be tumble dried, then you can use a tumble dryer on a gentle, low setting, or a ‘delicates’ setting if it has one. Again, avoid high heat settings and rough tumbling which can damage wool.

Can you wash wool?