How to Wash a Sweater: Washing, De-Pilling, Storage and Moth Protection

Hand wash sweaters in cold water with mild detergent, never wring them, and dry flat rather than hanging. Store folded, never on a hanger, with cedar or neem as moth protection. Heat and hanging cause almost all sweater damage. Care instructions appear on every Thomas Scott sweater page.

Sweaters are the winter garment most often ruined by care rather than by wear stretched shoulders from hanging, a shrunken body from a hot wash, pills across the front from friction. All three are preventable and none of the fixes cost anything. Thomas Scott builds the winter collection and the full store around fabrics that reward correct handling.

How Should You Wash a Sweater?

Hand wash in cold water with a small amount of mild liquid detergent. Submerge, press gently, leave for ten minutes, rinse cold, then press water out between your palms or roll in a towel. Never wring or twist. For cotton sweaters, a gentle machine cycle in cold water inside a mesh bag is acceptable.

What Temperature Should You Wash a Sweater?

Cold, up to 30°C. Hot water shrinks wool dramatically and irreversibly by causing fibres to interlock a process called felting. This is the single most common way a wool sweater is destroyed, and it cannot be reversed.

How Do You Stop a Sweater From Pilling?

Pilling is friction damage. Wash inside out on a gentle cycle, don't wash with rough fabrics like denim or towels, and avoid tumble drying entirely. Rotate sweaters rather than wearing the same one repeatedly, since fibres need recovery time. Finer, longer-fibre materials like merino pill considerably less than acrylic.

How to Remove Pills From a Sweater

Lay the sweater flat and use a fabric shaver or a sweater comb, working in one direction with light pressure. Never pull pills off by hand that drags more fibre loose and worsens the next round. Do this after every few wears rather than waiting for heavy pilling.

How Should You Dry a Sweater?

Dry flat, on a towel, reshaped by hand to its original dimensions. Never hang a wet sweater the weight of the water stretches the shoulders, body and neckline permanently, and knitted fabric has very limited recovery. Never tumble dry, and keep it out of direct sunlight.

How to Store Sweaters Without Damaging Them

Fold, never hang. Hanging distorts the shoulders and stretches the body over months, particularly on heavier knits. Store clean, because body oils oxidise into yellow marks and attract insects. Use breathable cotton bags or boxes rather than sealed plastic, which traps humidity against the fibre.

How Do You Protect Sweaters From Moths?

Moths are attracted to natural fibres carrying body oils and food residue, so storing clean is the primary defence. Add cedar blocks, neem leaves or camphor all effective deterrents. Air stored sweaters once a season, and check folds, since moth damage usually starts where fabric is compressed and undisturbed.

Fixing Common Sweater Problems

Stretched shoulders: usually permanent. Caused by hanging. Wash cold and dry flat to recover a little shape.

Shrunken wool: felting is irreversible. Prevention is the only answer.

Pills across the chest: normal friction wear. Shave with a fabric shaver rather than pulling.

Sagging cuffs and hem: wash cold and dry flat; ribbing often recovers partially.

Musty smell after storage: air in shade for several hours, then wash cold.

Common Sweater Care Mistakes

Hanging sweaters in the wardrobe. The most common cause of ruined shoulders.

Hot washing wool. Causes irreversible felting.

Fabric softener. Coats fibres and reduces breathability.

Storing unwashed. Body oils attract moths and oxidise into stains.

Expert Tip

At the end of winter, wash every sweater before storing it, even ones that look clean. Invisible body oils are exactly what moths seek out, and they oxidise into yellow marks over the eight months your sweaters sit unused. This single end-of-season habit prevents most sweater loss between winters. Store them alongside sweatshirts and jackets in breathable cotton.

FAQs

How do you wash a wool sweater without shrinking it?

Hand wash in cold water with a wool-specific detergent, press gently rather than agitating, rinse cold, and press water out between your palms. Never wring, never use hot water, and never tumble dry. Hot water causes wool fibres to interlock permanently a process called felting that cannot be reversed.

Should you hang or fold sweaters?

Always fold. Hanging lets gravity stretch the shoulders, body and neckline over time, and knitted fabric recovers poorly from that. This is the single most common cause of a sweater losing its shape. Fold them on a shelf or in a breathable box, stacked with the heaviest at the bottom.

How do you get pills off a sweater?

Lay it flat and use a fabric shaver or a sweater comb, working in one direction with light pressure. Don't pull pills off by hand, since that drags more fibre loose and makes the problem worse next time. De-pill every few wears rather than waiting for the pilling to become heavy.

How do you protect sweaters from moths in storage?

Wash everything before storing, because moths are drawn to body oils and food residue in natural fibres rather than to the fibre alone. Add cedar blocks, neem leaves or camphor to the storage box, use breathable cotton rather than sealed plastic, and air the sweaters once during the off-season.