It's starting to become that time of year again, sweater weather, so I'm taking all of my sweaters out of storage and I feel I should wash them before wearing them again. Do you have any recommendations about washing wool (merino, cashmere) sweaters in a high-efficiency machine? There's no shot that I'll be hand washing (delicate cycle!), but I'm not sure what detergent would be best; I've heard horror stories about Woolite but not much about anything else. Anything you can say to help?I can say a whole bunch of things to help, and I will! Here's one thing I won't say: I'm not gonna tell you to hand wash your sweaters. I would love love love it if you would hand wash your sweaters, but you've made it clear that it's not a thing that's going to happen and so I'm not going to push it on you. I feel strongly that we're all adults here with free will; if you tell me that you can't be convinced to add hand washing to your laundering routine, that's absolutely fine. As for the rest of you, I'd like you to consider hand washing because it is truly the best thing for your sweaters and it's also a far less gruesome task than you might think, but I'll save that spiel for another day when one of you specifically asks about it.

Before we even get into the specifics of how to machine wash a sweater, what with all the fun to be found in discussing washing cycles and water temperature and laundry detergents and extremely exciting add-ons like protective baggies, allow me to take a minute to talk about how you can extend the time between washings and tell you about a tiny thing that made me clutch my proverbial pearls when I read this question.sweatshirt template psd freeLet's start with that pearl clutch-y thing, because it's fairly minor but well worth taking the opportunity to make a note about proper storage. agl hoodieThe way our Letter Writer phrased his question led me to believe that when he put his sweaters away last spring, he just sort of folded them up and stashed them in storage. hoodie utan tryck

The problem is that, over time, any stains—even the smallest and barely noticeable of the genre—or build-up that's been left behind by skin, body oils, and/or deodorant, can cause permanent and irreparable damage to the fibers. hoodie key and peeleNow, that's not to say that it will happen, just that it can. hoodie tribal jualAnd since washing sweaters isn't super painstaking, I think it's worth doing so before they get put away to make room for your summertime duds.azkaban hoodieThe fact of stains and build-up brings us nicely to this next subset of our sweater-care discussion: Extending time between washing. north face hoodies eastbayThe thing is about sweaters, whether they be cotton blends, or wool, or fine cashmere, is that they don't love being over-handled because of their tendency to pill, snag, and fray.

Unfortunately, the handle-iest thing we do to our sweaters is washing them. The other handle-y thing we do is wear them, so don't get too unraveled over all of this. (You can go ahead and get unraveled over that really terrible sweater joke I just made, though.)There are two separate things to know when it comes to extending the time between washing, and they basically come down to prevention and triage. Prevention is as easy as wearing something underneath, like an undershirt, to keep that aforementioned build-up from making its way onto the sweater. Over on the triage front, there is spot treating. It's exactly what it sounds like—treating spots, a.k.a. stains, as they happen rather than washing the entire sweater when a stain blemishes your fine woolens.With those fundamentals behind us, let's talk about the actual washing. (I know you're like, "Good grief, lady, finally. Macaroni and Jesus, it took you a long enough damned time to actually, ya know, answer the question." AND THAT IS FAIR.

But look, you learned some things along the way and if brevity is what you're after there are loads of cleaning experts who write in bullet points all over this great big Internet of ours. I won't be hurt if you seek them out.)The small act of pearl-clutching I engaged in due to a whiff of improper storage technique was nothing compared to the gasp of excitement I let out when I read that our Letter Writer knew of what I like to call The Woolite Mystery. Oh man, GET STOKED for this because it's so cool and weird. (OK, fine, my idea of cool and weird and yours are likely wildly different.)So here's the thing you need to know first: There's a persistent rumor that is very, very, very often stated as fact on the Internet that Woolite is not only a bad detergent, but will out-and-out RUIN YOUR DELICATES. On the Internet, not only is the rumor stated as fact, it is also stated in ALL CAPS.The story goes a little something like this: When Woolite was formulated, it was much gentler than competing detergents of the day.

But, as detergent evolved and became more sophisticated, Woolite stayed the same and now, in comparison to today's detergents, is far too harsh for use on woolens and other delicates.The problem, however, is that it's just not true.You have no idea how good it feels to finally be able to say that with certainty. The reason I can do so, is that I asked Leigh Boerner, an expert in detergents who reviews those products for The Sweethome, to help me solve the mystery. Here's what Leigh had to say about the findings of her research on delicates detergents, "I remember you asked me at some point about Woolite and if it was really bad for wool. Now that I've tested it, I really don't think so. I took the pH of all the detergents I tested, since a basic [alkaline] solution can damage wools and cashmere and fun fibers like that." What she found was that the pH of Woolite, and almost every other delicates detergent she tested, is 7 (neutral) and so, in human terms, it's absolutely A-OK to use on delicates, wools, and other fabrics that don't benefit from exposure to alkaline/basic solutions.