How to Wash Wool Clothes

Part of the selling point for the higher price tag of designer brand clothes is their higher-quality materials and fabrics. However, in order to truly get the most bang for your buck, you need to know how to clean wool and other high-end fabrics. 

Well-constructed men’s and women’s designer sweaters will outlast cheaply-made clothes, but only if treated well. Our mission at Buy Outlet is to make designer clothes accessible and affordable for all our customers and to teach you how to care for them so they last for many seasons and years to come.

Why Should I Buy Wool Clothing?

Wool is a natural, biodegradable material that feels soft and warm on the skin. It’s worth learning how to wash wool clothes due to all the benefits this luxurious material offers. 

Sheared from sheep, llamas, and alpacas, wool fibers when packed together are very breathable. That’s because wool uniquely allows tiny pockets of air to flow within the material which helps absorb and release moisture from the surrounding environment or the wearer. This characteristic of wool makes it ideal for cute cold-weather outfits that need to be worn outside as well as indoors where it’s warmer. 

Want to know something even better? Wool reacts to changes in your body temperature. This means that wool discount designer dresses and other wool pieces can keep you warm when it’s cold and cool you down when it’s hot. 

Learning how to wash wool is important because although you aren’t going to wash it as much as other fabrics, you still need to learn how to maintain the quality of your wool. 

Garments made of wool are odor-resistant and absorb moisture, like perspiration, from your skin. This means you may not have to wash your wool sweater except to spot clean when needed and deep clean periodically, once or twice a season.

It’s also a static-resistant material, so it won’t cause any weird clinging or discomfort. Plus, the coiled nature of wool fibers makes it hard for wool tops to wrinkle as opposed to other men’s and women’s shirts made of different materials.

How To Clean Wool Clothing

Generally, you’ll want to wash wool after every few wearings. You’ll want to use a special detergent labeled for use on wool garments. You can hand wash or machine wash wool clothes, but you should never machine-dry wool clothes in a dryer.

Handwashing Instructions

The trick to learning how to wash wool is knowing the right products to use. If there are any stains on your wool clothing, you’ll need to pretreat those. 

Be wary of your go-to pretreating solution– not all of them are safe to use on wool. For example, any solution of chlorine bleach will cause your wool to turn yellow and stiffen. The product label should clearly state whether it is okay to use for wool garments. Our tip? Test your pretreating solution on a hidden spot before committing to the stain.

You’ll need to fill a washbasin or sink with cold water to prevent the wool from shrinking. Hot water may make your wool garments shrink. The product label should make clear the amount of shampoo needed to wash wool and clean wool. 

When you submerge the wool garment in the water, make sure to only agitate the water surrounding the garment if you need to mix in more soap. You want to avoid squeezing or touching the wool itself. To rinse, run cold water over the wool piece until there’s no soap left. 

To remove the water, you can press the wool garment but do not wring it. Sometimes, colorful wool pieces may color the water, but this rarely results in any diminished color of the garment itself. The best way to air dry the clothing item is to lay it flat on a clean towel and roll it up. 

Finally, the last step for learning how to wash wool: place it flat on either a drying rack or a dry towel away from sunlight or heat to finish drying.

Machine Washing Instructions

You can safely machine wash your wool clothing if you take the right precautions. Place any wool garments in a mesh bag for added protection. 

Specific wool detergent should be used, and the machine should be set to the delicate cycle. Some washing machines even have a wool cycle. The spin cycle and water temperature should both be on the low setting. 

To dry, follow the same air drying instructions as for handwashing. Never dry your wool garment in a drying machine. 

Upgrade Your Wardrobe For Less

Thankfully, learning how to wash wool is actually not that complicated. 

When planning how to clean wool, it’s important to note that less is more with these garments. Ideally, you should wash wool only once per season and stains should be spot-cleaned. Luckily, wool is odor-resistant, which means these garments don’t need to be washed as regularly as others. 

Stock up on designer-quality wool clothing from our luxury brand outlet. You can find the best deals online when you shop designer deals from Buy Outlet and enjoy free shipping, too. We hope you’ll love your new wool garments, and we’re confident they’ll last you through the long haul now that you know how to wash wool.