How to care for your garments?

Handwash only

(kapua, cassum, ecopossum, Alpaca silk, mohair etc.)

Hand wash with cool water using a liquid detergent that is specifically designed for wool/silk fabrics. Regular laundry detergent can cause damage to wool garments over time.

Once washed, remove excess water out of the garment. Do not wring or twist as this can cause the knit structure to stretch out of shape. We recommend putting your garment in the washing machine on a gentle low spin to remove excess water. Please ensure only a single garment is spun at a time, so there is plenty of air around the garment so it does not get agitated by other garments which could cause felting.

To dry your garment, ideally lay it flat on a towel to prevent any extra stretching while drying. Allow your garment to dry completely before moving it, to prevent it stretching out of shape.

Machine washable

(TEC merino, cool tree, most apparel garments)

Gentle machine wash on a wool/delicate cycle in cold water with a low spin. If the garment is made of wool or silk, please use detergent that is specifically designed for wool/silk fabrics. Regular laundry detergent can cause damage to wool garments over time.

To dry your garment, ideally lay it flat on a towel to prevent any extra stretching while drying. Allow your garment to dry completely before moving it, to prevent it stretching out of shape.

Garments made from woven fabric may be dried over a line or on a hanger to air dry (always check the care label to see if this is suitable). If line drying or using pegs, be mindful of creasing or indenting the fabric. Drying on a hanger could cause the shoulder areas to stretch out. If this happens, you can try gently ironing or steaming the area back into shape.

Dryclean only

(blazers, coats, etc)

Some styles may state on their care label that they are dry clean only. Washing these garments at home may cause the garment to lose their shape. This is most common with blazers/coats that have tailoring around the collar area. Some fabrics may also shrink when washed normally, so if a garment says dry-clean only, be sure to adhere to the correct instructions.

Please use an eco-friendly drycleaner, as some drycleaners use harsh products that can be damaging to your health and the environment.

Most of our garments are dry-cleanable, so you may launder them this way if you prefer. However, if the garment care label warns against dry cleaning, please avoid this as it may damage the garment.

Reshaping

If a garment looks to have shrunk in length (e.g. if length has come up with washing), give it a steam with the iron and gently pull on the fabric evenly to bring it back out to the length. With areas that look like they may have grown with washing/wearing, steam and gently pat fabric/yarn in until it is sitting flat without wrinkles. As you pull to increase the length, the width may reduce, and vice versa. Keep an eye on this as you reshape. If you want to ensure you reshape your garment to the same measurements they were originally in, you can use our garment measurement chart online. Knitwear will often change slightly with washing and wear. This is normal and will depend on how it is worn, washed and reshaped.

Allow your garment to dry completely before moving it, this should help set the garment into the measurements it was reshaped to.

If needed, pressing with the iron on a wool setting can help remove any wrinkling, and can allow you to reshape it again when dry – give plenty of steam, and allow it to cool down in the shape you want before moving it.

How to avoid shrinkage

Wool is notorious for shrinking in the wash when not cared for correctly. The mixture of moisture, agitation, and heat, can cause the microscopic scales on the wool fibre to lock together. This gives a felted look to the garment, changes the texture, and shrinks the garment past the point of being wearable. Once this has been done, it can’t be undone – so it is imperative that you adhere to the correct instructions for washing your garment.

Different washing machines will have different settings for a wool/delicate cycle. Ensure that your wool cycle is always cold and gentle, and that you use a wool detergent. Use a high water level when machine washing or handwashing to allow the garment to move around easily without friction. Do not overload your machine. Ensure there is plenty of space around your garment so it is not agitated by other garments it is being washed with. Never put your wool or knitwear garments in a tumble dryer.

Why wash knitwear?

Sometimes, there is a belief that you should never wash wool – in fact, washing your wool and knitwear can refresh the garment and keep it looking better over time. Wool will only shrink in the wash if laundered incorrectly – so now that you know how to care for your garment, you are good to go!

Knitwear yarns are made up of individual fibres, spun together. When you wear knitwear, friction from normal wear can cause these fibres to move around, and in some cases this can cause pilling.

Pilling is a natural part of knitwear. We test our yarn to ensure we have the best quality and pill-resistance. However, some types of fibre e.g. merino, will shed small fibres naturally on the first few wears. If you don’t wash your garment, these loose fibres even more importantly, begin to build a muscle for form pills on the surface. Washing your garment as per the care instructions can remove these loose fibres and prevent pilling. The best way to avoid pilling, or help remove any pilling, is to wash your garment regularly, especially after the first few wears.

Possum garments can get slightly flattened in areas of constant friction (such as around cuffs, elbows, sides and underarms), and this can be revived with washing. Washing helps burst out the possum fibre, which brings back the soft, fluffy texture. Regular washing when needed will prevent this from being too flat to be revived. Balding (when the surface looks bare without the fluffy possum fibre) can happen when the garment is worn too much without washing and the flattened areas become bare. It is hard to fix a garment when it has reached a level of being too bald.

Knitwear garments will naturally stretch to adjust to your body and movement. Washing can help keep this in shape, preventing it from being over-stretched. You may need to reshape the garment while damp after wash to bring it back into shape if it has stretched out too much from a lot of wear.

How often to wash your knitwear will depend on how much you wear it, if it gets dirty, if it has stretched out or you can see any changes happening to the fibre. If it is starting to pill, getting flat or going bald, it’s a good idea to give it a wash. Doing so will prevent long term damage to the fibres, so you can enjoy your garment for many years!