5 Best Ways to Protect Your Baby Woollens.

The pilling, color fading, loosened ends, lost shine, odor, and holes are all signs of damage to your precious baby woollens. Whether it's cashmere, Alpaca, Lamb, Merino, acrylic, or synthetic wool, all are vulnerable to damage. The higher the quality of yarn, the more care it demands. So just having a cedar chest is not enough. Here are the five most important, tried and tested over the years, sure-shot ways of protecting your precious baby woolens' colour, shine, and life.

1.     No Harsh washing, Be gentle.

Use lukewarm water, prefer gentle cycle, extremely gentle mild washing agent, especially meant for woollen garments, for baby woollens no need to use baby detergent, use detergent meant for woollens as that’s the mildest and ideal for woollens. Wash after 3-4th wear. Not very frequently. For stains and spots on woolen garments, spot clean locally using the same washing agent before putting the garment into the washing cycle. Do not scrub or rub, that will damage the fiber, just blot.

2.     Inside out always.

To avoid pilling to the most, keep your woollens inside out. While washing, drying, and also while storing. Inside out reduces the damage to the bare minimum. Keeping your woollens inside out minimizes the risk of pilling, color fading, etc.

3.     Regular Checks

Sew and trim loose ends if any to avoid abrasion. Use a fabric shaver or sweater comb and fabric conditioner to keep a check on pilling. Fabric conditioner must be used after every 3-5th wash. Pilling makes the wool dull so make sure you are regularly checking on it.

4.     Woolens are like a close-knit community.

Woolens must be stored with woolens only, in a cool, dry place, away from any kind of seepage, humidity, and moisture. Avoid overcrowding and overstuffing of the box/bag/container. Woolens should not be ideally kept in a vacuum bag. Use breathable containers/bags.

5.     Do Not hang

Woollens need not be hanged. Do not dry them on hangers. Especially if the yarn is of very high quality. The garment will lose its shape. Do not hang them even during storage. Fold them neatly and keep them in a stack. Hanging loosens the knit around shoulders, and deforms the shape of the knitwear.

Stick to these five essential tips and your woollens will never lose their shine and luster. The woollens are sustainable clothing but they need our effort to sustain. Let's preserve these precious woolens and their quality so they are used by many more generations in countless winters ahead.