How to stretch a sweater that has shrunk after washing

Now your favorite sweater is only the size of your five year old daughter? Or can it be used to make clothes for walking your dog? Familiar situation. If you are not yet ready to say goodbye to your favorite clothes, we will save them.

We want to warn you that it is not always possible to return the original appearance of any shrunken item. It depends on the composition of the threads and the percentage of shrinkage. Some fabrics are easy to repair, some, unfortunately, almost impossible to stretch.

Why things get smaller

Any fabric is made up of threads, which in turn are made up of fibers. Woolen items consist of natural downy animal hairs woven into yarn.

If you remember from a biology course, under a microscope, a human hair looks like a rod covered with a layer of scales that overlap each other like tiles. The same is true with animal fur.

Now imagine a wool thread that is exposed to the extreme conditions of a washing drum:

1. If natural threads are moistened, they become soft and fluff. This happens when a woolen item gets into warm water.

2. If you start to crush them, the fibers are deformed, bent, the surface scales open and stand on end. This is a consequence of the rotational movements of things in the drum.

3. When compressed, the scales firmly cling to their own kind on neighboring villi.

Thus, the bent and compressed villi are fixed to each other in the wrong position by superficial horny scales, like hooks. the result is a shortening of the threads and a decrease in the size of the sweater.

This principle is used in the method of felting woolen products, when the wool is moistened and compacted by intentional deformation.

Another illustrative example that allows you to understand what the shrinkage process is. Try taking a few of your hairs from the comb, roll them between your palms and rub them with your fingers. You will get a tight lump that you will never unravel.

There is another factor leading to the shortening of the threads at the physiological level. Despite the fact that the cut hair is no longer alive, it still contains the protein keratin, which, like all proteins, is subject to the process of denaturation (strong contraction at high temperatures). This process is irreversible. Boiled wool fibers cannot be stretched back.

It seems that the above arguments are enough to understand the process of shrinkage of natural wool pile. Let’s start the process of resuscitation of things.

What items can be recovered

Fabrics made of loosely twisted threads with a long fiber shrink the most. Unfortunately, such things cannot be returned to their previous dimensions. They can be given a second life by altering, presenting to a friend or making a cozy sofa cushion.

In the following cases, you can try to restore the sweater:

1. If the jersey has a mixed composition.

2. When a thing is knitted from highly twisted threads.

3. If the pile in the threads is short.

Recovery methods

We understood the fabric shrinkage process. Now let’s look at how you can influence the threads to restore their length.

Softening and smoothing

If there is a slight shrinkage, and you notice it immediately after washing, you need to stretch the fibers as soon as possible and close the straightened scales.

To do this, do the following:

1. Fill a basin with 3 liters of cold water and add 2 tbsp. l. hair conditioner.

2. Leave the item to soak for 15 minutes.

3. Pull the jersey a little in the water. But do not make rubbing movements. This will lead to even more matting of the hairs.

4. Remove the sweater and, without twisting, squeeze a little to remove most of the water.

5. Lay the product on a towel. Wait for the terry cloth to absorb excess moisture.

6. Lay the garment on a dry towel and spread it out evenly.

7. Lightly and evenly pull the fabric to the sides.

8. Do this procedure, returning to the thing about every half hour.

9. To stretch a thing evenly and fix this state, you can pin it with pins to a fixed base.

Use of hydrogen peroxide

This method allows you to straighten the blended yarn, which contains synthetic fibers. To give the sweater its original look, you need to do the following:

1. In 10 liters of slightly warm water, pour 2 tbsp. l. hydrogen peroxide and stir.

2. Put the sweater into the water and leave for 15-20 minutes.

3. Remove the item and lay it out, for example, on an ironing board covered with a terry towel.

4. Give the sweater the correct shape.

5. Stretch the fabric in all directions.

6. Light openwork shrunken things can be hung on a coat hanger and evenly pull knitwear. This will not make it worse, but in this way you can restore the previous size of the thing.

Steam stretching

Blended fibers can be softened with steam. But this method is excluded for pure wool, since heat shock will only fix the result of shrinkage.

Synthetics, which is part of the mixed threads, under the influence of steam straightens and stretches. Following it, wool fibers can also be pulled out, reducing the degree of adhesion between them.

What should be done:

1. Lay out the dry jacket on the ironing board.

2. Cover the item with damp gauze or a towel.

3. Iron the fabric while pulling it out.

4. Instead of ironing, you can use the steam function. Be careful when stretching knitwear, as the item gets hot.

Water and vinegar

In this case, it will take time to restore the size of the sweater. The thing will have to be soaked in vinegar solution for 12 hours.

To prepare the mixture, you need to take 2 liters of warm water and 1 liter of table vinegar. After soaking, the sweater should be rinsed in cool water and hung on a coat hanger, straightening well and carefully stretching the product.

stretching

The essence of the following method is to dry the softened fabric in a stretched state. Someone pulls things on mannequins, nails them to special frames, puts them on. We will use improvised means and do this:

1. 
   We put the jacket in cold water, in which a softener is added. This can be one of the following options: hair conditioner (2 tablespoons per 3 liters of water), baby shampoo (3 tablespoons per 3 liters of water), vinegar (1 liter per 2 liters of water), ammonia ( 2 tablespoons per 3 liters of water).

2. 
   Let the sweater soak in the solution for 3 hours. During soaking, you need to periodically stretch the knitwear.

3. We take out the thing and squeeze it out without twisting.

4. 
   Stretching the sweater. To do this, we stretch it on a pillow, put terry towels rolled into a roll inside, put it on the back of a chair.

We need to get back to the original size. Moreover, it is necessary to fix the wet thing, otherwise, when it dries, it may shrink again. Therefore, assessing the situation, add or subtract the amount of invested items.

Non-standard solution

To restore a pure wool sweater that has shrunken several sizes, I will help with all sorts of alterations. If you know how to sew, knit and are not afraid of experiments, you can safely get down to business.

To increase things to their previous size, you can do this:

1. Cut off the first row of loops along the bottom of the product.

2. Collect the freed free loops through one.

3. Those loops that remain unsecured must be dissolved to the very top. The easiest way to do this is with a crochet hook.

4. Do the same with the sleeves.

5. Thanks to the freed space between the loops, the thing will stretch again.

This method is suitable for lint-free knitted items, in which rows of loops are clearly visible. In other cases, wool that has fallen down in a dense layer will not allow the loops to dissolve.

Another idea is to cut the sweater into its component parts and sew inserts between them. Learn a designer thing from the category of handmade.

To increase the size of a classic sweater with set-in sleeves, you will need to do this:

1. Rip things apart at the seams. You will get the following details: front, back and 2 sleeves.

2. Next, you need to take your jacket of a normal size, attach details to it and measure the amount of the missing width.

3. Inserts must be made along the side seams between the details of the front and back, along the lower longitudinal line of the sleeve and, possibly, along the shoulder line. If necessary, enlarge the cuffs.

Those who know how to knit can simply tie on the missing width and length. Those who sew can create an author’s thing from a combination of different types of fabric and knitwear.

Also, a very beloved, but very shrunken thing can be converted into other wardrobe accessories: a hat, scarf, mittens, skirt.

Hair Care Reminder

If an unpleasant situation with knitwear has already occurred, it is worth trying to fix it. And to prevent the recurrence of such troubles, we have prepared for you a memo with tips for caring for wool sweaters, which you can print out.

Rules for the care of woolen things:

1. 
   Wool doesn’t like water. Therefore, try to use washing as little as possible. The less time a woolen thing is in water, the longer it will last and retain its original appearance.

2. 
   Natural fibers are self-cleaning. If you get your sweater dirty, don’t put it in the washing machine. It is better to let the stain dry and clean it with a brush.

3. 
   For heavy pollutionsuch as wine or coffee, carry out local stain removal. Do not use chlorine, which will corrode paint or leave a yellow stain on light fabrics. Use folk remedies or oxygen-based bleach.

4. 
   Wash woollens by hand. Use cool water of the same temperature for washing and rinsing.

5. Use liquid products or hair shampoo as detergents for hand washing.

6. 
   Do not twist wool. Remember that any excessive physical impact provokes deformation and shrinkage of knitwear threads.

7. 
   After washing, just squeeze the itemsqueezing out excess water, and put the jacket on a terry towel.

8. 
   Do not dry natural things on heaters and in the sun.

9. 
   When machine washing, follow the instructions on the label. In the absence of information, always put the wash on a delicate or manual mode with a washing temperature not higher than 30 degrees.

10. 
    Turn off the spin cycle for automatic washing.. You can use the water drain function.

11. 
    To avoid shrinkage due to temperature changes, it is better to choose a cold wash.

12. 
    Use special liquids for washing wool in automatic machines.

Often, on the run, we do things that make us upset. It’s a shame when a favorite soft sweater is reduced to the size of a doll’s clothes. Unfortunately, no one is immune from this. But only the one who knows will never allow such metamorphosis with his clothes, because he is aware of the rules for caring for woolen sweaters.