How to stretch a wool sweater. How to stretch a shrunken woolen thing

How to stretch a sweater that has shrunk after washing? - This is quite problematic, at first glance, because if he sat down, it means he became small, and if he is small, then it will be almost impossible to dress him. And most often this happens with delicate and by no means cheap things, for example, woolen. But oddly enough, this problem has long been learned to cope. How exactly, we will tell you in this article.

The reasons for the deformation of woolen products

A lot of housewives faced a significant decrease in the size of a thing after washing was completed. In order to completely eliminate the possibility of such a problem in the future, you must understand why woolen things still shrink. There are only two main reasons.

Unsuitable detergents are used

Aggressive powders quite negatively affect the structure of the threads, destroy the protein, which implies active compression. In order to wash a woolen item correctly and not be puzzled by the problem of how to stretch a sweater that has sat down after washing:

  • use only special compositions - as a rule, they should be marked “for wool”, for example, good feedback won ;
  • give preference - this by itself simplifies rinsing.

Important! If you do not have such a tool at hand, you can use an ordinary hair shampoo. He will be over acceptable option than ordinary powder or rather aggressive household chemicals.

Abrupt temperature change

The main reason for shrinking woolen clothes is not hot water, as most people are used to thinking. Thread compression provokes a very sharp change temperature regime water.

Ways to help you revive a shrunken thing

Even if you made a mistake or a thing of the village, although you seem to have followed all the rules for washing it, you can correct the situation. So, the sweater sat down after washing - what to do?

Stretching with steam

To return an enlarged thing to a look that will approximately resemble the original one, exposure to high temperature and steam directly will help. But if you use them, be extremely careful, because thermal exposure can irreversibly disrupt the structure of the material:

  1. Wet the shrunken product several times and wring it out.
  2. After that, lay it out on a flat horizontal surface and cover with a cotton cloth.
  3. Through this protective layer iron the thing with a hot iron, you can connect the steam mode or steam boost.
  4. While ironing, you should slightly stretch the thing with your hands in the direction you need. But be extremely careful, after such manipulations the material will be incredibly hot.
  5. Repeat these steps until the product is completely dry.

Important! This technique is excellent for things that have a mixed composition. A sweater that is made of 100% wool is unlikely to stretch in this way..

Special compositions and means

reanimate favorite product rinsing will help special composition. It will make the woolen threads soft and elastic, which will make the process of stretching an expensive outfit much easier:

  • Prepare the following composition, for this take: 4-6 liters of water, which should be room temperature, 1 tbsp. l. vodka or cologne, 3 tbsp. l. ammonia, 1 tbsp. l. turpentine. Soak the sweater in it for 40 minutes, rinse, wring out lightly. After that, you can go directly to stretching.
  • Soak the product for 30 minutes in a solution of vinegar, the proportion of water and vinegar should be 2:1. After that, try to stretch.
  • In 1 bucket of water at room temperature, add 2-3 tbsp. l. ordinary hydrogen peroxide. Soak the shrunken garment for 30 minutes. After that, squeeze and dry, periodically stretching, while trying to give the desired shape.

Combined method

The sequence of actions when using such a tool is as follows:

  1. Soak the wool product in water, except for the shoulders and throat. Wrap it in a towel to absorb any excess moisture. Pressing the product is strictly prohibited.
  2. Then hang it on a coat hanger and leave it to dry completely.
  3. Re-wet in cold water and leave it in a completely horizontal position.
  4. Constantly approach the product and stretch it.
  5. Later, hang the thing already on a hanger so that it is a little ventilated.
  6. Get your iron ready. It is desirable that it has a steaming function.
  7. Separately, prepare a mixture of water and vinegar in a ratio of 2: 1, pour it into a spray bottle.
  8. Treat the sweater with it, and then start steaming it, but in no case touch the wool itself.
  9. At the same time, try to stretch the thing with your hands.

Air conditioning

Another little secret states that hair conditioner helps smooth out woolen threads. Knowledge this secret will help you if you need to stretch a sweater that has sat down after washing.

Here is what you should do:

  1. Rinse the product in water, the temperature of which will not exceed 30 degrees.
  2. After that, place it in the basin, anoint with the existing hair conditioner.

Important! Make sure that the conditioner is evenly applied to the entire surface of your product.

  1. After passing 5 minutes, you can already pull the jacket, but only with your hands horizontally.

Important! The size of your product can increase by a maximum of 1.5 times.

If the case is more serious

There is even more effective recipe how to stretch wool sweater, which sat down after washing. Thus, it can be increased by about one size. In order to do this:

  1. Place the item in lukewarm water. If the throat is not small, you should leave this part dry.
  2. Wipe the product with a towel, and then place it on a coat hanger.
  3. Of course, ideally, this product can be put on a mannequin, which is unlikely to be found on your balcony or in the attic.
  4. During the drying of the product, make sure that the air is not excessively warm.
  5. In addition, while drying, you can pin the resuscitable jacket to one of your towels along the edges with pins so that it does not have the opportunity to move out or shrink.

Important! In the future, so that you do not have such problems, read carefully all the rules for caring for knitted products:

Dry cleaning

In the event that none of the above methods could help, and you really want to save the product, contact a dry cleaner for help. They certainly know how to stretch a sweater that has sat down after washing.

But not all cleanings provide such a service, so before giving the item, consult with the receiver. Especially if your product belongs to those that this procedure contraindicated. For example, in the event that silk threads are present in the composition of this product, or they are decorated with some elements that are not the strongest in appearance.

The woolen thing is very convenient in application. Such products almost do not wrinkle, provide warmth, are resistant to dirt, but if the woolen thing has sat down after washing - how to fix it? In such situations, use effective methods helping to return original view product.

Why does wool shrink after washing?

Man wishing to have in wardrobe woolen products, must know the features of caring for them, as well as some secrets that allow you to return things to their original size in case of shrinkage or stretching when washing. But for all its advantages, the material has a major drawback - shrinkage during improper washing.

If you take care of woolen things incorrectly, they can easily be spoiled, as they are prone to deformation. However, in case of shrinkage wool fabric during washing, it remains possible to restore the thing.

Woolen material and things from it are quite delicate and require special washing, drying and care conditions. If you do not follow certain precautions, then, having washed your clothes once, you will notice that the woolen thing has sat down after processing.

Woolen items can stretch or shrink if washed at a temperature of 30 degrees or more, certain types of powder with excess alkali can also cause deformation of things.

Delicate garments washed on the normal spin cycle or dried quickly using heaters cannot be returned to their original appearance after such manipulations.

With the advent of automatic washing machines shrinkage of woolen things has become a frequent occurrence. The situation when wool sweater sat down after washing, is familiar to every second person. As a result of improper processing, an adult item may be reduced to the size of a children's item. Then it is unlikely that it will be possible to save it and restore it to its previous state.

The shrinkage or stretching of wool is due to the fact that, similar to human hair, the wool fiber is covered with scales, which undergo deformation when exposed to hot water. When the fabric enters the water, the flakes of the fibers straighten out, and during processing and aggressive spinning they interlock. It is this process that leads to a decrease in the size of the washed clothes. A similar situation can occur when ironing a wool garment using steam.

Exist big number methods that can help to deal with the problem of changing the size of woolen items and straightening the fibers.

Universal ways to save shrunken woolen products

Many people are interested in the problem of what to do if a woolen jacket, coat, mittens or dress has sat down.

by the most in a simple way, which can be used at home, is rinsing things in cold water and further drying on a hanger. The water flowing from the thing will allow it to stretch and return to its original shape. There is one caveat to this method. In order to avoid excessive stretching of the sleeves and edges, it is necessary to periodically wring them out slightly.

The second way is to place a wet knitted item on a large piece of dense material, fastening and equalizing along the edges. In this position, the item should dry on the surface of the fabric.

If you need more radical ways to correct the situation, you must use vinegar. For this, a solution is prepared with proportions of 2: 1, in which the thing is immersed, it is left in it for several hours. Next, the solution is poured into a container and the thing in it is boiled for 30 minutes. When drying things, it is necessary to periodically stretch it to the desired size.

What can be done with reduced socks and mittens?

If small things, such as socks or mittens, are deformed and reduced in size, then there are also ways to return them to the previous size using peroxide, cold water, vinegar and other means.

To begin with, socks (mittens) are re-soaked in water using conditioner, hair balm or fabric softener. Someone resorts to the use of products such as hydrogen peroxide or ammonia at the rate of one tablespoon per 5 liters of liquid.

The shrunken part of the wardrobe should be in the prepared solution for about an hour, after which they must be carefully wrung out (without twisting), but not washed, and put on, stretched according to the figure. The procedure is unpleasant, but it is what will allow things to take shape.

How to pull out pants?

The quality and size of trousers often suffer, which will also be restored special methods. Containing natural thread, track pants stretch after washing. Stretching can be done in width or length, depending on the degree of shrinkage.

To dry shrunken pants, they are placed on a towel until completely dry.
If they have not quite returned to their size, then you can periodically sprinkle with water and stretch again in the right direction.

Unlike sweatpants, which stretch quite easily, trousers can be more difficult to restore. First of all, it is important to determine where the shrinkage of the fabric occurred, for which the object can be put on. To stretch the place where the trousers have shrunk, considerable effort must be made. If they have become shorter, then it may be necessary for the participation of two people, one of whom will take them by the bottom, and the second by the top.

If you need to stretch your pants in width, then you can put on thick tights and try to pull wet pants on top. So you need to walk for at least 15 minutes. It is recommended to dry trousers without the use of heaters and batteries.

In general, to prevent shrinkage of pants and trousers, it is necessary to carefully study the requirements for caring for a shrunken item and wash clothes using gentle modes.

How to restore the header

A piece of clothing such as a hat can also suffer from shrinkage, taking a size a couple of points smaller. The first thing a person decides when faced with such a situation is the purchase of a new headgear.

In this case, a method of stretching clothes can also come to the rescue. To do this, the cap is again placed in water and remains there for a short time. After that, it must be carefully squeezed out, if necessary, then use a towel for this purpose.

For the following steps, you need an object that is close to the shape and size of the head, allowing you to stretch the hat. The thing should dry out precisely on this subject, if it is a little more head, then it's not scary. After drying, the headdress will certainly take its toll. previous view and stretch.

Coat

The saddest thing is when the coat shrinks after washing, because the clothes are more expensive and heavy. The coat also needs to be soaked again. Squeeze out most of the water gently without twisting the product. The main thing is that the water does not flow in a stream.

The garment is placed to dry on a firm terry towel in horizontal blotting the top with another towel. The coat is pre-stretched slightly to fit the previous size. Towels should be changed during the drying process to prevent bad smell from a thing.

You will need

  • - shoulders;
  • - iron;
  • - gauze;
  • - hydrogen peroxide;
  • - vinegar;
  • - ammonia;
  • - vodka;
  • - turpentine.

Instruction

Wet all sweater except for the neck and shoulders. Wrap it in a towel for 5-10 minutes to absorb moisture. Under no circumstances should the item be twisted. After that, try to stretch it down and to the sides and hang it on a hanger to dry. But first wrap the coat hanger with something soft so that the thing does not deform.

wet sweater in cool water, wring it lightly in a towel, and then leave it to dry in a horizontal position. Approach and stretch periodically sweater in width, incl. and his sleeves. When it is almost dry, hang it on a coat hanger to air it out.

Turn on the iron by pouring more water into it for steaming. Separately, fill a spray bottle with water and vinegar. Sprinkle sweater and start to process it with hot steam, without touching the wool itself. While hot, quickly stretch it and in a stretched state, without letting go of your hands, cool it.

You can try to stretch sweater, steaming it with an iron through a damp cloth - gauze or cotton sheet. But remember that this should be done at a low temperature so that the thing does not “come together” even more.

Rinse out sweater in cool water with the addition of hydrogen peroxide (2 tablespoons per bucket of water). Stretch it while rinsing. Then leave the thing in this water for an hour or an hour and a half. Then pull out, wring out lightly and dry on a towel, periodically stretching.

Try to soak the shrunken sweater in acetic solution (1:2), and boil it after an hour. In some cases, the woolen thing is stretched.

If you place sweater for an hour in such a solution: 5 liters of water with the addition of ammonia (3 tablespoons), vodka (1 tablespoon) and turpentine (1 tablespoon), and then rinse in cool water, then you may also be able to stretch it. In this case, the wool becomes more elastic, and you can try to stretch it.

Not exactly pleasant, but in many cases effective way stretch a thing - put it on yourself when wet and dry it like that. If possible, you can use a mannequin. Just remember to evenly tie the weights to the sleeves and bottom.

Also very good way stretch favorite sweater- this is to pre-draw his pattern on a hard material (for example, a blanket) and bast a wet thing to this pattern. You will be especially good if sweater knitted or crocheted at home and can be ripped apart, drying each piece individually on a blanket.

note

If the woolen thing has strongly sat down or fell off, you will not be able to return it to its original appearance. This is the nature of wool. You have a chance to fix something only if the material from which the sweater is knitted contains synthetic fibers or if the percentage of shrinkage was small.

Sources:

  • wool sweater sat down

With the onset of the new season, we make an audit in our closets and mezzanines and find a lot of things that are a pity to throw away and are no longer possible to wear. Many knitted sweaters and jackets lie idle due to the fact that the sleeves are stretched out, a small hole has appeared, but if you feel that you could still use these things for their intended purpose, then you can try to fix them.

You will need

  • - old sweater perhaps not one;
  • - pieces of multi-colored felt;
  • - needle and thread;
  • - decorative buttons.

Instruction

If you need to correct the size of the product, then unzip the old things from which you sew and, combining the details, sew a new pullover out of them, or.

Transform a thick sweater with different color- from brown, make a false fastener bar and a tree trunk. From yellow, orange, green pieces, cut out the leaves that are still hanging on and that strew the autumn soil in abundance. Pick up wooden buttons - they will fit perfectly into this picture!
Dream up yourself, because you can depict anything - cool little animals, bright flowers, geometric figures arranged like in a kaleidoscope.

Woolen products practically do not wrinkle, retain heat, are resistant to pollution and quickly “ventilate” from various odors. For all unique properties wool has a significant disadvantage - it can sit down at the slightest violation of the washing technology. If we want to have things made of this material in our wardrobe and wear them for a long time, we need to be able to wash them so as not to stretch the products, and also know how to restore the shape of damaged clothes.

Why does wool shrink

There are a few known causes this trouble:

  1. Delicate fabrics, which include wool in the first place, require a special temperature regime during washing. Optimum temperature water - 30 °C. The hotter the water, the more likely that the product will sit.
  2. The second reason is wrong detergent. Wool is never washed with ordinary powder: the alkali contained in it destroys the fibers, they coarsen and shrink, as a result, the product is deformed.
  3. Machine wash without using a special program spoils woolen products. In addition to the fact that the jacket or hat will decrease in size, the fibers of the fabric may fall off, as a result of which the thing will become like felt.

Most of all, when washing, fabrics from natural materials- wool, cotton and mixtures thereof

It is believed that the first woolen things appeared around 1500 BC: it was then, according to archaeologists, that people tamed sheep and goats and began to use not only skins, as it was before, but the sheared wool of a living animal.

Most often, sheep wool is used for the production of woolen fabric.

Universal ways to save shrunken woolen products

A rhetorical question, since there are too many “variables” in this problem that affect the answer. Sometimes stretching the product is quite easy, sometimes it is impossible. It depends:

  • on the degree of shrinkage;
  • on the composition of the fabric (pure wool or blended);
  • from the applied methods of "resuscitation".

How to return the original size of a thing if it sat down

If the thing has not sat down much, then you can stretch it in the following way:

  • soak the product in cool water for 15 minutes;
  • remove and squeeze slightly without twisting;
  • lay a large towel on the table and spread the sweater on it.

By properly laying out the item for drying, you will get rid of the need to iron it in the future.

Natural wool is very hygroscopic (absorbs moisture well), so be prepared for the fact that the drying process can take up to a day. During all this time, change the wet towel to a dry one and periodically stretch the affected product with your hands in the directions you need.

The hygroscopicity of wool fabric is simply incredible: it can absorb up to 33% of water relative to its own weight, and still remain dry to the touch.

Since wool dries slowly, it can be tempting to help speed up the process. Never use a heater, hair dryer, battery placement or other express methods. All this will only hurt.

When shaping a sweater, make sure that after stretching it does not turn out to be deformed in width

How to enlarge a blended sweater with an iron

For sweaters and other mixed fabrics, a method such as steaming is suitable.

  1. Spread on ironing board clean sheet and lay the product on its surface.
  2. Steam it with an iron through damp cheesecloth, stretching with your free hand to shape the sleeves and length at the bottom.

If a jumper or blouse is dear to you, then take note of another way that can be called extreme. It consists in putting on a wet thing and walking around in it until it dries. In the process of such a “natural” drying, one should try to pull the sleeves and the lower edge of the product in order to stretch them along the length. The method is good because the impressions from the drying process are guaranteed to lead to a solid assimilation of the rules for washing woolen things: you won’t want to repeat it.

How to stretch a shrunken wool sweater with hair conditioner - video

How to draw out pants

If shrinkage has occurred along the length, then it is not difficult to correct the situation.


If in the process of wearing the fabric wool trousers is shiny, steam this place with an iron through cheesecloth, and then clean it with a stiff brush with salt.

How to restore the original look and size of a shrunken coat

Hardly anyone dares to wash their expensive cashmere coat. That is why we will talk about relatively small children's products made of mixed coat fabric. It is they who most often suffer from the inaccuracy of the baby and the inexperience of the mother. Washing a soiled coat in the car is a simple matter, but most often this method leads to the fact that the clothes go to the neighbor's child, who is a couple of years younger. You can still try to bring the coat back to life.

  1. First you need to soak the thing in this solution: 2 tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide per 10 liters of cold water.
  2. Keep the product in it for two hours. The peroxide will help the fibers become more elastic.
  3. While the coat is soaking, gently stretch it with your hands.
  4. After finishing water procedures wring out the material lightly and lay it out on a towel to dry. As you already know, towels should be periodically changed to dry ones, and the little thing itself should continue to be stretched with your hands until completely dry.

Things made of wool will be the size of a child for a long time if you learn how to properly wash, dry and stretch shrunken clothes

How to restore a hat that has become small after washing

Easiest to resize wool cap- pull it on a three-liter jar. Before that, it must be soaked in cold water for a few minutes.

If hair balm is added to the water for soaking the hat, it will give the fibers a soft fluffiness. From such a hat, the forehead will not itch later.

After soaking, put the hat on the jar turned upside down and leave to dry. naturally away from sources of heat. If you don't have a jar at home, dry your hat right on your head with a shower cap underneath.

After drying a shrunken hat made of wool on a three-liter jar, you can return its shape and size

What can be done with reduced socks and mittens

Such an attack is doubly unpleasant if it happens in a fierce winter, and socks or mittens that have decreased after washing are the only ones. To help grief, you will need:

  • vinegar;
  • spray;
  • many newspapers;
  • any strong clips or clothespins.

Instruction:

  1. Soak things in water (possible with the addition of hair balm).
  2. Stretch them a little with your hands.
  3. Remove and squeeze without twisting.
  4. Spray wet products with vinegar from a spray bottle.
  5. Place more crumpled newspapers inside and pinch the edges of the cuffs with clothespins to keep the newspapers from falling out. The paper will have to be changed occasionally, and the more often you can do this, the faster everything will dry. The smell of vinegar dissipates fairly quickly.

Woolen things are useful for people suffering from rheumatism, osteochondrosis, orthopedic diseases and circulatory disorders.

Vinegar and crumpled newspapers will help restore the shape and size of mittens or socks made of wool.

Wool jacket that has shrunk - stretched on the carpet

To reliably and safely stretch the jacket without losing its shape, we will use the "grandmother's" method. For it you will need a solution of the following ingredients:

  • 5 liters of cold water;
  • 5 tablespoons of ammonia;
  • 1 tablespoon of turpentine;
  • 1 tablespoon cologne.

Operating procedure:

  1. Soak the affected product for an hour and a half in the solution.
  2. Rinse in clean water the same temperature and squeeze a little.
  3. Baste the jacket to the piece thick fabric. To do this, spread a cloth on the table - a tablecloth folded into 4 layers of sheets, a terry towel. Lay the jacket over the fabric, stretch it with your hands and start sewing it along the contour to the fabric below. Make stitches in 2 cm increments. While sewing, adjust the position of the jacket all the time.
  4. Stretch the fabric to which the jacket is sewn on the frame (as indicated in the original recipe). In modern realities, you can do it easier: spread out the fabric with a jacket on a cleaned carpet and attach it with pins, pulling it hard. To do this, you will need an assistant who will keep the fabric taut while you pin it to the carpet.
  5. Dry your jacket like this.

Precautionary measures:

  • the method is categorically not suitable if there are small children or playful animals in the house;
  • count and write down the number of pins used: the same number you must then collect.

Proper care of deformable things

Deformed (shrunken and stretched) things require even more careful handling than ordinary woolen products.

It does not always happen that clothes serve us for years without losing their elegant appearance. A high-quality sweater, which, as a rule, belongs to the category of expensive things, can lose its shape after the next wash in the washing machine.

It will no longer be possible to wear it. Therefore, several ways have been devised to stretch a woolen sweater that has sat down after washing.

There are a number of factors that affect the fact that blouses and other knitted wardrobe items shrink:

  • Incorrectly selected detergents. Some powders are not suitable for wool. They change the structure of the yarn. As a result, the clothes fall off. To avoid this, it is better to use special powders and gels.
  • Rapid temperature change. Woolen threads that make up a sweater or pullover do not shrink because they are affected by heat water, as such, but as a result of a sharp drop during the transition from washing to rinsing. Therefore, you can not set the temperature above 30 degrees.
  • Wrong mode selected. In automatic machines, it is usually possible to wash clothes made of wool. You can also choose a delicate wash option.
  • Rough spin and dry. Do not wring out woolen clothes at high speeds. You should also dry them in a special way without resorting to the capabilities of the washing machine itself.
  • Poor quality material. If the sweater is made from a bad base, it is almost impossible to avoid losing its shape during the next cleaning.

What to do if the sweater shrinks after washing

There are many ways to stretch a shrunken wool sweater.

You can return the product to its original size by placing the garment in cold water ten or twenty minutes. Powders and other detergents are not required. After that, the sweater should be slightly wrung out, laying it in a towel.

It is better to choose a terry towel

Straighten the jacket on the plane. For this, for example, a washboard or a stand laid across the bath is suitable.

You can even place a wet sweater on the floor by laying a folded sheet under it. Let it soak for half an hour.

Then, every twenty minutes, the thing must be stretched in such a way that it takes former size in width and length. This must be done very delicately.

Returning the shape of the jacket vertically, you need to take it in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe seams - from above and below. Be especially careful with the cuffs and neck. Otherwise, they will lose their shape, and the jacket will have to be thrown away.

An improved way to dry while stretching is to pin the sweater to the fabric on which it rests. So that, after drying, the product does not warp, you need to use a large number of pins.


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