How to care

A knit should last a lifetime; here is your essential guide to caring for your knitwear

Only wash your jumpers once a year

Most of us are over-washing our knitwear by a significant amount, meaning it gets worn down more quickly. The majority of the time, we can actually get away with simply spot cleaning when required. Wool is a natural fibre, it cleans very well. We recommend washing our jumpers at the end of the season, when you’re putting them away.

Avoid machine washing

While care labels on luxury knitwear often say dry clean only, we suggest washing your woollen pieces by hand. Knitwear will always perform best when washed because just like our own hair, [the fibres] are restored and nourished through water. Hand wash in cold water using a non-bio detergent. Avoid machine washing if possible, as the spinning can cause shrinkage, and make sure you don’t over-wring the jumpers, either. 

Fold, don’t hang

To ensure your knitwear keeps its shape, avoid hanging. When drying, hanging will cause it to stretch from the weight of the water, so we always advise to lay it flat on a clean towel. You can iron your jumpers to keep them in pristine condition, before folding them away for storage.

Invest in a debobbler

Bobbling is often a big giveaway that a jumper has been well-loved, but investing in a debobbler can help you ensure it looks as good as new. Any soft natural fibre will bobble naturally. The difference between a high-quality jumper and a low-quality jumper is the extent of that bobbling – once you’ve removed the surface bobbles, the yarn [should] stabilise.

Watch out for those moths

To protect your jumpers from those pesky moths, put some cedar wood or lavender bags in your drawers, as well as ensuring your knitwear is clean when you put it away.

Get your jumpers professionally laundered

If in doubt, it’s always worth getting your knitwear professionally laundered.

 

A guide to washing

It is helpful to remember that wool and cashmere are hairs and just like our own hair, they are nourished, protected and strengthened by water and the washing process.

The best way to protect and care for your jumper is to hand wash it carefully and not very often. We wash our knitwear once a year. The rest of the time we air dry or spot clean.

How to wash a jumper:

  • Lukewarm water
  • Non-bio detergent and a small addition of hair conditioner will help to restore softness and lustre
  • Submerge & lather
  • Gently wring out (but do not twist) excess water. Never be tempted to spin a jumper in a machine, this is where most shrinkage occurs
  • Lie flat on a clean surface to dry. Do not hang or drape, the weight of the water will distort the shape of the knit
  • Iron if necessary, on a cool setting, using a handkerchief

 

Pilling

Some pilling will always happen with soft, natural fibres, it is a result of the softest surface hairs (that fluffy top layer) rubbing or coming into contact with any friction. With a quality yarn, that has long-staple fibres, this should just be the soft surface hairs of the garment. So once these first surface bobbles are removed, over time the garment should ‘stabilise’ and stop pilling.


We recommend using a de-bobbling machine to help remove any surface bobbles from your jumper. Just be careful to hold the machine above the surface of the jumper. Never apply it directly onto the jumper. This ensures that it only removes the raised bobbles and doesn’t damage the body of the garment. You should find that once you have done this once or twice over time, that far fewer bobbles or pills are created.