Reposting Restoring a Shrunken Sweater

Have you ever washed a wool sweater in the washing machine? Not on purpose of course, but one of those moments where you are in a hurry and your wool sweater accidentally gets tossed in the wash. Perhaps it even got tossed into the dryer and came out looking like a doll sweater? Did you know restoring a shrunken sweater is possible?

Last year I accidentally washed my son’s favorite wool sweater. The problem was that he has two gray sweaters; one can go into the wash while the other one must be hand washed. I was in a hurry and washed the wrong sweater. What to do? It was a beautiful sweater so I set it aside hoping to find something I could do with it.

A year later my girlfriend calls me up and tells me she did the same thing, washed her favorite wool sweater. Only she spent a little time on the Internet and found a solution!

You can soak the sweater in warm water and conditioner and the yarn will relax and return to it’s original shape. Was I ever skeptical! However, I love my son and it was worth trying to see if I could restore his favorite sweater to it’s original size. the sweater that I shrunk by mistake.

First put enough warm water in the sink to allow you to completely submerge the sweater. Add a bit of hair conditioner and mix it until it’s completely dissolved in the water.

Place your sweater in the water and make sure it is completely soaked and under the water. Let the sweater soak for 10 minutes.

Drain the sink while the sweater is still in it. Gently press the sweater to remove as much of the water as possible. Don’t squeeze the sweater or wring it out.

Remove the wet sweater and lay it on a thick, absorbent towel. Place the sweater in a cool room to air dry on the towel. The combination of the warm water, hair conditioner and cool air will unlock the wool fibers and allow you to restore the sweater. Yes, restoring a shrunken sweater is possible!

Gradually stretch the sweater back into shape as it dries. Gently pull a bit at a time to resize it. Let the sweater air dry until it is ready to wear.

I can’t tell you how pleased my son was to have his sweater back again! This is definitely a trick I will use again!