Hmm . . . What Do You Think?
Hi Susan:
I have one more question about the care of cashmere. Is it possible to wash with baby shampoo in the washer on the gentle cycle, or too much wringing and twisting? Your thoughts?
Kate P
Recently my beloved and VERY hepful husband did a load of laundry. And in with the jeans and yoga pants and little (and big) boy t-shirts was my black cashmere turtleneck. I found it before it went in the dryer and laid it flat to dry and it was none the worse for wear, but the whole experience took ten years off my life. Because cashmere! In the WASHING MACHINE!
Deep breath.
I know there are people who swear cashmere can be washed in the machine, on gentle, as Kate suggests. My inclination is to say, well, maybe if you use a lingere bag, to prevent the twisting and wringing. Maybe.
But my stronger inclination is to say DON'T DO IT! Be kind to your cashmere; take the time to hand-wash. Think of it as a sort of meditation, a Zen moment of mindfulness of the small things. Something like that.
Do any of you wash cashmere in the machine? If you do, dish. Tell us everything.
I have one more question about the care of cashmere. Is it possible to wash with baby shampoo in the washer on the gentle cycle, or too much wringing and twisting? Your thoughts?
Kate P
Recently my beloved and VERY hepful husband did a load of laundry. And in with the jeans and yoga pants and little (and big) boy t-shirts was my black cashmere turtleneck. I found it before it went in the dryer and laid it flat to dry and it was none the worse for wear, but the whole experience took ten years off my life. Because cashmere! In the WASHING MACHINE!
Deep breath.
I know there are people who swear cashmere can be washed in the machine, on gentle, as Kate suggests. My inclination is to say, well, maybe if you use a lingere bag, to prevent the twisting and wringing. Maybe.
But my stronger inclination is to say DON'T DO IT! Be kind to your cashmere; take the time to hand-wash. Think of it as a sort of meditation, a Zen moment of mindfulness of the small things. Something like that.
Do any of you wash cashmere in the machine? If you do, dish. Tell us everything.
6 Comments:
Well, I sure could use some of your professional suggestions here... :)
Ie. if you are interested enough to do me the favor. :)
Scope.
Would it gross you out to know that I have never washed my one and only cashmere sweater?
BUT I am definitely planning on either hand washing or dry cleaning. Is dry cleaning acceptable? I hope so. I'm a tad bit lazy about hand washing. It's a nice idea, but...
BTW, once you "go cashmere" you never go back. Have you noticed?
I accidentally washed my cashmere sweater in the machine. I nearly cried when I was moving the load to the dryer and found the sweater. But after letting it sit out to dry I found it was fine. Totally and completely fine. But now I dry clean it and it always comes back fine.
Regan! Don't dry clean! Hand wash! I'm serious about that.
And I'm glad your sweater survived.
Mary, WASH THAT SWEATER. Before I come over there and do it for you.
I think that I will stick with the handwashing...unless it ends up in the washer accidentally!
I'm reading the archives!
I work with fiber all the time -- I spin yarn, knit, that type of thing. So I've been able to test this on cashmere I have knit before I washed a cashmere sweater.
I will wash cashmere in the washer, but I use special wool wash (not the evil Woolite!) -- Eucalan (I like the lavender scented one), Kookaburra Woolwash, or Soak Woolwash (or hair conditioner, NOT shampoo). I fill the washer with cool water, the soap mentioned above, and I let my cashmere sit in it for about 30 minutes. Then I spin the water out and finish drying the sweater flat (it dries really fast that way). No felting, no pilling, and it's slightly less painful than handwashing.
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