My roomate dried a load of laundry today that had two sweaters in there that were made of wool - it was on a low setting, but they still have shrunk in length of the arms and main part. Is there any way to stretch them back out? maybe if I soak them in cold water and stretch them out and let them air dry on a sweater rack?

Hopefully someone's got some good ideas..

[Edited on January 9, 2006 at 4:19 PM. Reason : :-]

1/9/2006 4:09:52 PM

anyone else laughing at this?

1/9/2006 4:17:19 PM

dont' know why you would be laughing at this - it sucks... but it happens.

please step out of my thread if you don't have anything constructive to say kkthx

1/9/2006 4:18:44 PM

i dont think there is.

my gf knits and felts and does all that jive a lot and as far as ive picked up from her, nope. its a one way road

1/9/2006 4:20:20 PM

If you want to destroy my sweater...Woah-ah-woah-ah-woah.

1/9/2006 4:21:11 PM

^HIS NAME IS WHEEZER!!!!

BWHAHAHAHA!

1/9/2006 4:27:57 PM

LYING ON THE FLOOR

LYING ON THE FLOOR

I'VE COME UNDONE

1/9/2006 4:28:50 PM

Quote :

"dont' know why you would be laughing at this - it sucks... but it happens. please step out of my thread if you don't have anything constructive to say kkthx"

1) it might be your thread, but if you're looking for answers, it's in your best interests to not be so, erm, cranky

2) no, you're not gonna be able to get them back to their original size. if you really, really like them, you can carefully make them somewhat bigger (how much depends on the type of knit, kind of wool, and how badly they felted during laundering), and you'll just have to lose weight to be able to wear them again.

1/9/2006 5:06:31 PM

Wheezer is a fucking terrible band.

1/9/2006 5:14:13 PM

There is a way to try - umm i read it in a book somewhere

I'm serious here too... it involves baby oil (i think) pushpins, and cardboard - basically stretching it out and pinning it in place

Look up a book called like "how to do stuff" or just go to borders and in the reference type section look up books on home tips and shit. It's in one of them, I promise.

PS. sorry I'm so vague.. but just know it's out there.

1/9/2006 5:27:23 PM

wheezer is a girl with a good voice

1/9/2006 5:35:12 PM

maybe she has asthma

1/9/2006 5:46:16 PM

Quote :

"I'm serious here too... it involves baby oil (i think) pushpins, and cardboard - basically stretching it out and pinning it in place"

Yes, oil and wool is a WONDERFUL combination



or not.

1/9/2006 5:50:58 PM

I bought a sweater for my dad thats way too big, is it likely to shrink them about 2 sizes by washing warm and drying?

1/9/2006 5:57:14 PM

yeah

1/9/2006 6:00:54 PM

SUPERMAN SKIVVIES

1/9/2006 7:07:24 PM

Quote :

"no, you're not gonna be able to get them back to their original size"

1/9/2006 7:11:32 PM

[Edited on January 9, 2006 at 7:11 PM. Reason : wtf, why did it double post]

1/9/2006 7:11:32 PM

I did that one time and just went back to the store and exchanged it for a different size. Both sizes fit me fine.

1/9/2006 8:09:35 PM

yea thats a good point, depending on when and where the sweaters were bought, you may be able to return them for a store credit or exchange them

1/9/2006 8:44:10 PM

oh Kristen, what did you do?

i would go the cold water and stretch route, then lay flat on a table, then flip once one size is dry. if you let it go on a sweater rack, then some parts might stretch out more than others.

once i got an angora sweater back to size by carefully putting it on wet and then stretching it so it would fit again.

Good luck.

P.S. let's get coffee sometime again!

1/9/2006 10:25:27 PM

Call your local dry cleaner. I think the technical term is "sweater reblocking"

1/9/2006 10:29:49 PM

Look at the stitches. Can you still see clear stitches or does it look like there are places where it has become a solid fabric? When you move the sweater in "waves" in that area, does it move easily or is it more like a solid sheet? The more like a solid it is, the less likely it is to be able to be salvaged.

If you want to try stretching them back out:
-Use cold water.
-Don't use regular soap. Either use woolwash or nothing at all.
-Don't agitate the sweater any more than necessary. Be gentle!
-After you've gently squeezed all the water you can out (Try laying a towel on the sweater, then rolling up like a sleeping bag, pressing, and unrolling...repeat with dry towel) lay the sweater out on something flat. Lay a towel on the flat thing if it's not "pinnable" - but I like to use a couch or bed. Get some rust-proof, coil-less safety pins and gently stretch the sweater out and pin it in place. Leave it until it's absolutely dried.

I personally don't think it will restretch - the up/down restretch will be much tougher than a left-right would, in my opinion.

1/10/2006 12:09:22 AM

If you want to destroy my sweater...Woah-ah-woah-ah-woah.

1/10/2006 8:32:01 AM

On both, I can still see individual stitches, and moves fluidly. Maybe they'll be okay. I've found several methods online - including these:

When wool gets wet and warm, the fibers in the wool lock themselves together and don't want to let go, resulting in shrinkage (you can get wool warm or wet, but not both). To unshrink the wool, soak the garment in warm water with a mild soap for about 10 minutes. This unlocks the fibers in the wool. Then lay the garment out on some towels in a cool place. Stretch the garment out to its original dimensions. The stretching pulls the unlocked wool fibers away from each other. Allow it to dry. The absence of heat from the drying process allows the wool fibers to set in place without locking together and shrinking the garment again.

1. Soak the garment in a tub with a mixture of hair conditioner and water. Gently pull the sweater to reshape.

2. Try another method if that doesn't work: Dissolve one ounce of sodium borate (borax) in a couple of tablespoons of hot water, add the mixture to a gallon of lukewarm water, immerse the garment and pull gently into shape. Rinse in a gallon of warm water with 2 tbsp. vinegar.

3. Soak the garment in warm water with a mild soap for about 10 minutes to unlock the fibers in the wool. Lay the garment out on some towels in a cool place but don't rinse. You can roll it up in the towel to absorb the excess water.

4. Then stretch the garment out to its original dimensions. The stretching (also called blocking) pulls the unlocked wool fibers away from one another.

5. Allow the garment to dry for any of the methods mentioned above.

1/10/2006 8:47:19 AM

look, you woolly bully pussy, wash the shirt again in cold water, take it out once the cycle is complete, hang it up outside, letting the air dry it, and gently tug on the parts that have shrunk. This will work but you must know that NOTHING will get the homo-sweater to ever be the same again. If its ruined, so be it. Better the sweater be ruined than every ounce of manhood you ever thought you had.

plz to /thread.

1/10/2006 8:54:59 AM

^hi... I'm a girl. Check the profile plz



silly people dc:

1/10/2006 9:32:00 AM

even if you had left any doubt that you're a moron...

Quote :

"wash the shirt again in cold water, take it out once the cycle is complete, hang it up outside, letting the air dry it, and gently tug on the parts that have shrunk. This will work"

dumbass.

1/10/2006 11:11:14 AM

Okay, tried the soaking in cold water and conditioner. They both re-formed nicely and are drying. The instant I put the sweaters in there they started to become more supple.... so this method obviously works.

1/10/2006 2:49:05 PM

lying on the floor
lying on the floor

1/10/2006 3:20:02 PM

I've come undone

1/10/2006 3:22:49 PM

doo-doo-doo du-du-du

1/10/2006 3:41:24 PM

the sweater will never be the same...

[Edited on January 10, 2006 at 4:06 PM. Reason : .]

1/10/2006 4:06:21 PM