Caring for crocheted items: how to wash, iron, store them

Crocheted items need good and thorough care because they are extremely susceptible to negative effects, they quickly deteriorate if mishandled. It’s particularly difficult to care for items crocheted with natural threads because they deteriorate even with a delicate machine wash.

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Washing rules

It is advisable to only handwash your crocheted items. But there are also some nuances here:

1. Only soft water should be used for washing. If your tap water is hard, add a teaspoon of baking soda to the washing basin.
2. Colored woolen items of all kinds should never be washed with bleaching powders.
3. It is advisable to wash expensive woolen and silk yarn with kid’s shampoo or bath foam.
4. In order for the angora to acquire tenderness, at the last stage of rinsing, a teaspoon of glycerin should be added to the water.
5. It’s safest to wash the crocheted fabric, susceptible to strong chemicals in detergents, with a soap solution – 2 g of soap per 1 liter of water.
6. When washing, crocheted clothes shouldn’t be rubbed, but just slightly squeezed. If you rub the crocheted fabric, it will get covered with pills.
7. You shouldn’t let your items soak for long. Water used should be cool, not hot. In hot water, crocheted garments lose their shape. Moreover, different types of crocheting yarns react differently to hot soaking, so it is better not to risk but use cool water for any product.
8. If clothes are stained, then to gently wash them, it is necessary to use the detergent in a higher concentration compared to a standard wash. This solution is used to soak stains without affecting clean areas. Clothes should be left for 10-15 minutes, after which you should proceed to a standard wash.
9. The process of crocheted garment washing should consist of two stages: soaking in lukewarm water using a detergent and washing gently without friction. Clothes you removed stains from should not be twisted, but the excess water should be lightly wrung out. The item should be then left in a sink or empty basin for 20 minutes to allow any remaining moisture to drain out by itself.
10. If you suspect that the product could lose color from washing, then carry out the process according to the standard method, but then the washed item should be left in clean cold water for a day.
11. Woolen garments should be rinsed with water at the same temperature as for washing. Otherwise, pills will appear on the woolen surface.

Drying and ironing rules

One thing you should never do is to hang washed items vertically: in this case, you won’t be able to avoid their deformation. Crocheted items should be dried only on a horizontal surface, they need to be carefully laid out on a table, drying or ironing device, all folds should be smoothed out, and the collar and sleeves should be given the correct shape. Beforehand, you should place a thick towel that absorbs moisture under the wet item.

If you have a portable dryer, then place it in a room with good ventilation. You can’t choose a place for drying if it’s close to a heating radiator, heater, fireplace, and other heat sources. Also, do not expose the dryer to direct sunlight.

If the drying has been carried out correctly, then there is no need to iron the product. But if you can’t do without using an iron, then the device should be adjusted at minimum heating, or you should iron through gauze, or steam should be used. If your iron has no steam function, then put a moistened piece of gauze on top of the crocheted clothes, heat the device as much as possible, and stroke it at a distance of one centimeter from the surface product.

Storage rules

Not completely dry or unwashed items should not be put in the closet for storage, this would attract moths. It is advisable to set aside a separate shelf for folding crocheted products. You should not use hangers, crocheted clothes would stretch out on them and deform, especially shoulders. Do not wrap products made from natural threads in plastic wrap: air should circulate in the fabric. To prevent moths, store or grandma’s remedies should be placed in the closet.

If a thread has come out of the garment, you shouldn’t cut it off, otherwise, the fabric will start unraveling, and a hole will form. In this case, the thread that came out should be hooked up and pulled to the backside.