Those of us who live in cold weather climates have a lot of knitted hats, beanies, scarves, gloves, and mittens. They’re essential for keeping you warm on a cold winter day. I like to wash them properly so that they stay looking nice and will last me through several winter seasons. If they’re commercially bought you want to check the label for care instructions and follow them. If they’re handmade you’ll want to follow the instructions that I’m outlining below.
How to Properly Wash Knitted Hats, Scarves, and Gloves
1. Wash “like” colors together. Wash the darks with darks and the lights with lights.
2. Use the delicate or gentle cycle setting on your washing machine.
3. Place items in an old pillowcase to protect them during the laundering process. This will prevent snags and pilling. Knot the end of the pillowcase shut.
4. I like to use a gentle laundry detergent like Dreft, Ivory Snow, or Woolite. Natural laundry detergents also work well. If you like them super-soft after the laundring process you can use a liquid fabric softener with no problems.
5. After the washing process take them out of the pillowcase and lay them flat to air dry. You don’t want to place them into the dryer and hanging them will cause them to stretch out. It’s best to just lay them flat to dry.
When it comes to storing all of your knitted winter hats, scarves, and gloves…I like to keep mine in a bin on a shelf in my closet. I don’t stuff them into dresser drawers where they can become snagged or damaged. Don’t store them in a cedar chest or with moth balls.
How often should you launder them? Well, at least twice every season. I will launder them at the very beginning of the cold weather and again once the season is over. Obviously, if you get them dirty…you’ll want to launder them a little more often.
If you follow these tips you’ll keep your knitted winter accessories looking nice for a longer period of time. I can get my accessories to last me 3-5 seasons with proper care.
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I never thought about washing and drying knit hats and c-=scarves in a special way. I shall try this before I put away my winter items.
It is finally time to think about washing and putting away those winter hats. This is very helpful especially with using a pillowcase.
WOW I never thought about washing and drying them in a special way. I usually just throw them in the washer and then the dryer..