Sweaters!
Today I was taking care of a new sweater I bought. I was a bit surprised at how worn it looked. You know the look, the one with all the cute little sweater balls all over it. It makes the sweater look like it is 10 years old and you have not even had it for 1 month. I find that to be extremely annoying. Unfortunately, all sweaters do pill.
Laundry for sweaters
Well, the first thing I would suggest is that you check the care label on your sweater, even before you buy it, so you have a clear understanding on what needs to be done. Most sweaters can go in the washer and dryer, others must be done on the delicate cycle and yet a few are actually hand washed. There are also sweaters that need to be dry cleaned. Now, if you are like me and like your sweaters to look nice these are the first things to consider. For the handwashing part, I am not a big fan of because I do not have that kind of time. So that sweater, no matter how cute goes back on the store shelf.
Remove the pills every time you wash your sweater
The one thing most of us are not aware of is how quickly does the sweater start to pill up. This varies from sweater to sweater depending on the type of yarn that it was constructed with. To remove the pills, I would suggest that you lay your sweater flat on a table to get the best results. One way to remove the pills is with a razor. This is a rather long process. There are battery powered pill removers, and this is much faster than the razor. I prefer this method.
Take care of any snags
To take care of snags you will need to use a crochet hook and pull the snag to the inside of the sweater. In some cases, you can work the stitch back in to a degree. I have a collection of crochet hooks just for this reason, oh I do sometimes actually crochet also.
Basic Everyday Care
To help your sweaters last longer here is some basic care items for you. First, your sweaters should be kept in a drawer and folded. Be cognizant of the jewelry that you were with your sweaters because they can snag your sweaters. I recommend that you do not hang your sweaters because it will stretch out the sweaters.
When winter is over, and you are going to store your sweaters you want to make sure to clean them before storing. Get rid of all stains because they can attract bugs to your beautiful sweaters. I used to store my sweaters in plastic bins. I was afraid of bugs getting to them. Silly me. The sweaters need to be in a cool, dark, well-ventilated container. A great place would be under the bed in a cardboard box.