Is your sweater shrunk?
It is still may be possible to restore the original size of your wool sweaters. As the possibility to restore the wool sweater depends on a variety of factors, it is probable to increase your sweater by as much as a size and a half using this process.
You may try the following steps:
- Fill a bath tub with lukewarm water – there should be enough water to cover the item you wish to unshrink.
- Take your hair conditioner and add a generous amount of it to the water. The secret is that the hair conditioner will relax the wool yarns and loosen them, and this will allow you to re-size the knit item without deteriorating its shape. Agitate the water well with your hands to dissolve and mix the detergent and hair conditioner.
- Submerge the knit garment to the water and gently keep kneading it for some time. Once you’ve worked the conditioner and detergent mixture into the fibers, drain the water from the bath tub.
- Gently press the throw against the bottom and sides of the tub to remove the excess water, then take the item out from the tub.
- Lay the item flat on any large piece of fabric and place another piece of fabric on top of the throw. Press down on the top fabric and continue to squeeze water out of the throw until both the upper and lower pieces of fabric have absorbed most of the moisture. If necessary, repeat this with dry pieces of cloth.
- Lay the wool sweater on a flat soft surface and gently pull it back into the desired shape and size. Stretch it very gently in all directions, try make the edges straight and symmetrical concentrating your efforts on the sleeves, bottom edges and neckline – or any areas you think have shrunk the most. Allow the item to lay flat for some time and repeat the stretching one or two more times before it dries completely.