Clothes Are Becoming More And More Ovesized Now, Even Wool Knitted Products Are No Exception(If You Want To Know More About Woolen Knitwear Products, Please Click "Sweater Factory" Learn More), But Wool Knits That Are Not Handled Properly Will Always Shrink, So At This Time We Can Always Receive Questions Like "How To Pull Wool Knits Without Damaging Them" Stretching It” Problem, Let’s Take a Look At Our Method Below.
Reasons For The Shrinkage Of Wool Knitting
The Shrinkage Phenomenon Of Wool Knitwear Is Generally Called "Milling". The Key Reason For The Shrinkage Phenomenon Lies In The Structure Of Wool Itself. Analyzing The Layered Structure Of Wool Fibers, We Will Find That The Fiber Structure Of Wool And Cashmere Contains Scale Layers, And The Scales Mainly Protect Wool From Changes In Properties Caused By External Conditions.
The Existence Of These Scales Endows Animal Hair Fibers Such As Wool With a Special Property: The Frictional Force Is Different When Moving In Two Directions, The Resistance Along The Direction Of The Scales Is Small, And The Resistance Against The Scales Is Relatively Large.
The Structure Of The Hair Scales Is Precisely The Key To Shrinking The Woolen Sweater. When The Woolen Sweater Is Thrown Into The Washing Machine, The Turbine Of The Washing Machine Will Make The Clothes Shake In The Drum, And Each Hair Fiber Will Rub Against Each Other. Its Scales Act Like Little Ratchets To Allow The Fibers To Move In One Direction Only.
And The Water In The Washing Machine Makes It Worse, Causing The Hair Fibers To Swell And Soften The Cuticles, At Which Point The Cuticles Become Entangled With The Cuticles Of Other Hair Fibers, As If In a Knot.
Millions Of Tiny Little Ratchets On The Tens Of Thousands Of Individual Fibers In a Wool Sweater Cause The Fibers To Become Tighter And Tighter Throughout The Wash And Dry Cycle, Reducing The Overall Size Of The Wool Sweater .
The Reason Why Wool Knitting Can Be Stretched
Because Wool Is Like Our Hair, The Tensile Strength Is The Lowest Among The Commonly Used Natural Fibers, But The Elongation Is The Largest Among The Commonly Used Natural Fibers, So In a Certain Temperature And Humidity, The Entanglement Between The Scales Can Be Reduced, Making The Hair Scales On The Wool Surface Are Opened To Restore The Original Elasticity And Fluffy, And Then The Entanglement Of The Scales Is Released By External Stretching To Make Them Recover.
Common Ways To Stretch Sweater Knits
From The Above, We Can Understand That The Strength Of Wool Fiber Is Lower Than Other Commonly Used Fibers, But Its Stretchability Is Very High, So You Must Confirm That It Does Not Contain Felt Before Stretching Your Knitwear. Full Felt Cannot Be Stretched. According To The Empress Of Dirt, You Can Tell If Wool Is Felted By Looking For Individual Fibers (Not Felted). Also, If You Pull a Small Portion In The Opposite Direction, Try To See If There Is Any Stretch Left (Full Felt Doesn't Stretch). After Confirming That The Knitwear Is Stretchable, We Will Follow The Steps Below To Stretch Your Woolen Knitwear For You.
Method 1: Conditioner/Shampoo To Soften Fibers
The Method Involves Softening The Wool Fibers In The Shrunk Knit With Conditioner, Making It Easier To Stretch. Of Course, If You Don't Have Conditioner, You Can Use Fabric Softener Or Shampoo Instead.
1. Prepare Warm Water And Add Conditioner.
Prepare a Basin Of Warm Water First, And Then Add Conditioner. The Ratio Of Conditioner And Water Is 1:3, Then Stir Evenly, And Then Put The Shrunk Sweater Into The Basin.
2. Soak The Sweater In The Sink For 20-30 Minutes.
Soaking Allows The Warm Water And Conditioner Solution Enough Time To Properly Saturate And Soften The Fibers Of The Sweater. First, Make Sure The Entire Knit Is Submerged In Water For 20-30 Minutes, Especially If It Is Large Or Thick. During The Soaking Process, Knitwear Can Be Kneaded And "Stretched" On It.
3. Remove The Sweater From The Sink And Gently Squeeze Out The Water.
Allow Most Of The Water To Drip Off The Fabric Before Squeezing Out The Remaining Drops, And Squeeze To Remove The Moisture. Avoid Wringing Out The Sweater As This May Damage The Fibers.
4. Remove Moisture
When The Knitwear Is Still Wet, Put The Woolen Knitwear On a Large Dry Bath Towel, Then Roll Up The Knitwear With The Bath Towel, Squeeze And Roll Up The Clothes, And Repeat This Action Many Times To Restore The Woolen Sweater Original Appearance. If Possible, Use a White Towel So That Any Dye From The Towel Won't Stain Your Merino Wool Sweater. This Task Will Require Absorbent Towels Rather Than Lightweight Cotton Towels.
5. Stretch
Gently Pull Apart The Wool-Knit Shoulders To Their Normal Position, Then Pull The Sleeves To Lengthen. Next, The Host Material Is Pulled Transversely, Followed By The Fibers Longitudinally. Continue Stretching The Sweater Until It Is The Shape And Size You Want. Afterwards, Hold The Sweater Over Your Body To Verify That The Stretch Is Correct. If You Haven't Reached The Original Size, Repeat The Same Process. Note That The Wool Will Shrink After Drying And Can Be Longer Than You Expected.
6. Let Dry
Dry The Cashmere Sweater On a Dry Towel In a Dust-Free Location. If The Sweater Is Still Damp After 24 Hours, Turn It Over, Place It On a Dry Towel, And Let It Dry For Another 24 Hours. If The Sweater Still Looks Too Small, Repeat The Softening And Stretching Process.For Detailed Methods, You Can Also Check "How To Dry Cashmere Sweater To Ensure No Deformation" For More Information
Method 2: Steam Heating Method
This Method Can Be Done With a Steam Iron Or a Steamer, And The Wool Fibers Are Made Fluffy And Easier To Stretch By Heating.
Steam Iron Ironing Method
Heat The Shrunk Sweater With a Steam Iron And Stretch It By Hand While It Is Hot. The Heating Area Of The Steam Iron Is Limited, And It Can Heat Each Part Of The Sweater In Turn To Repeat The Stretching Action. It Is Impossible To Stretch The Fiber a Lot At One Time, And It Needs To Be Heated And Stretched Repeatedly. Ironing With a Steam Iron Skips Washing The Sweater Directly, And The Steps Are Simpler. And You Can Also Compare The Stretched Sweater With Your Own Figure At Any Time To See Where There Are Short Places, And You Can Continue The Above Actions.
Steamer Heating Method
1. Prepare Materials
This Method Requires a Dry Cloth Bag (Cotton Is Best) And a Steamer.
2. Operation Process
After Folding The Shrunken Woolen Sweater, Put It In a Dry Cloth Bag; Put Water In The Steamer, Heat It, After The Water Boils, Put The Bag Containing The Woolen Sweater Into The Steamer, And Let It Steam In The Pot For About 15 Minutes; Take Out The Sweater, While It Is Hot, Pull The Woolen Sweater With Your Hands, Stretch The Woolen Sweater a Bit, And Then Let It Dry Naturally.
If You Find It Troublesome, Just Boil a Pot Of Hot Water At a Temperature Of About 75 Degrees, Then Throw The Shrunk Sweater In And Iron It For 10 Minutes, And Then Stretch It Again!
The Above Is a Simple And Commonly Used Method Of Non-Destructive Stretching Wool Knitwear.
