Bring Old Sweaters Back to Life!

January 24, 2020

While we are amid this cold weather, you might be wishing your sweaters were in better shape. Here are a few tips and tricks to help restore them to their former glory.

 

Faded Colour?

There are a couple things you can do about this. To restore your once vibrant sweater, add salt or alternatively, vinegar into your laundry cycle. This helps break down any detergent or minerals left behind by hard water on your clothing. If using salt, measure out a 1/2 cup and add it to the drum. Salt is also effective for removing blood, sweat and mildew stains. For the vinegar method, add a 1/2 cup into your washing machine. Wash the sweaters in cold water on the hand-wash or wool setting. 

Perhaps you're sick of that sweater colour anyways, and you want to spruce it up with a new shade. If so, you'll need to strip the original colour first. You can do this by using Rit Colour Remover which works for cotton, linen, silk, wool, rayon and nylon. The best way to remove strong colour is using the stove top method. After this you can choose from a wide array of Rit dyes, to give your sweater new life!

 

Lost Shape?

If your sweater happened to shrink overtime, you can restore it back to original size by soaking it in warm water with 1 tbsp of hair conditioner for 30 minutes. Gently stretch out the sweater afterwards and lay flat to dry.

If your sweater stretches out over time, you can shrink it down by washing it in hot water. Use a short cycle so you don't over shrink it.

 

Maintenance

Overtime all sweaters will eventually pill. You can use an electric fabric shaver or fuzz comb to rid the lint. To avoid stretching out the shoulders, fold instead of hanging your sweaters.

 

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