Pumpkin Wednesday-How to Keep From Destroying Your Sweaters

Happy Pumpkin Wednesday, I hope you all had a chance to celebrate the middle of the week!

I love lounging on Wednesdays!

At the request of one of my followers (that's so cool to say I have followers) tonight's Pumpkin Post is about caring for, and storing your sweaters!

Hello to Spring Goodbye to Sweaters!

The sweater is a complex clothing item;  it's bulky, and can require careful washing or even dry cleaning.  As we are getting closer to a complete week of warm weather, those big bulky sweaters seem less appealing to wear and more like they are ready to be stored to make way for your spring wardrobe.

My fur = sweater I can never put away for the summer

Before you put your sweaters away, make sure they are clean.  Putting away clean sweaters will prevent discoloring, bugs, moths, and general dirt from destroying your precious sweaters.

Read the labels to determine how to care for your sweaters.  (As a side note, just because your sweater might be dry clean only does not mean you should take it to the dry cleaner every time you wear it!  Dry cleaning wears out clothes, so be careful, spot clean, and try to minimize the trips to the dry cleaner.  It will help your clothes and your waller)  If your sweater is cotton or, the label says it can be washed, your best bet is always to hand-wash.  If you must use the washing machine, make sure your washer is on the gentle cycle.

One specific question my follower has is how to reshape sweaters.  I have both good news and bad news.

• Good News
• You can try to hand wash your sweater if it doesn't require dry cleaning, and lay it flat to dry in the shape it should be.  
• Bad news 
• If your sweater is out of shape, and it is old, the fibers likely are without any of their original structural integrity.  It's a similar phenomenon to when the elastic gets so stretched out the fibers sort of disintegrate.  Needless to say, you are sort of out of luck and need to enjoy your sweater in the shape it is...

The misshaping of the sweater may also be prevented by careful cleaning as well as being careful about how you store your sweaters. Sweaters should be folded neatly to help keep their shape.  Avoid putting your sweaters on hangers.  The shoulders will get stretched out very quickly.

Always be careful when adding water to natural fibers

Lastly, if you are storing sweaters for the summer, make sure everything is clean, and get yourself some breathable boxes, bags or other containers to put your nicely folded sweaters in.  Storing your sweaters in plastic may help prevent any pests from eating your sweaters, but plastic doesn't allow the fabric to breathe.

What advice do you have for caring for your sweaters?  Have you started to change your wardrobe over to your spring/summer attire?

Looking forward to a lovely Thursday!