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Garment Care

Washing

You can dry clean or hand wash your knitwear, but hand washing using baby shampoo is best.

We do not advise that you machine wash your knitwear.

Washing your knitwear helps settle the fibres and reduce pilling in the long run. 

For sweaters and cardigans that you use mainly as a mid-layer or outerwear, with minimal contact with your skin, we would suggest that they only need to be washed once or twice a year. For tops that you wear directly on your skin, you may need to wash more often, say after 2 - 5 wears. 

Please kindly note that on some occasions, you may experience some shrinking or stretching after a piece of knitwear has been washed. Unfortunately, this is due to the interaction between the water quality of your particular location and the specific type of fibre and it is difficult to avoid. 

Depending on the nature of the water in your location, the texture of the knitwear may also change after a wash (for example, become stiffer/harder, or fluffier). This too is down to the varying quality of the water used and not something that can be avoided. 

To hand wash your knitwear:

  1. Find a container (for example, tub or large bowl) that is big enough for submerging your knitwear.
  2. Fill the container with cold or gentle, tepid water.
  3. Put a small amount of baby shampoo into the container (one small squeeze of the bottle will do, around 5 - 10 ml).
  4. Turn your knitwear inside out and place it into the container, submerging it completely and leave for 2-3 minutes. Let the garment soak in the water (do not wring it or squeeze it).
  5. Take the knitwear out (again, do not wring), set it aside on a dry towel, and empty the container, rinsing the container of any dirt and residual baby shampoo.
  6. Fill the container with clean water and place the knitwear back into the container, let the garment soak for another 2 - 3 minutes to get rid of the baby shampoo.
  7. Squeeze as much of the water/shampoo out of the knitwear as possible after soaking but DO NOT WRING.
  8. While the knitwear is still wet, lay it out flat on a towel and reshape the knitwear to ensure that the key measurements of the knitwear are back to the correct specifications BEFORE it dries (see size chart of the product at the bottom of the product page), in particular, the chest width, sleeve length, and body length. Once the knitwear is dried, if the measurements are incorrect, those specifications will be set and you will have to re-wash the knitwear and reshape.
  9. To dry your knitwear, place it completely flat on a dry towel, making sure there are no sharp folds. Do not hang your knitwear on a rack or on a hanger as this will cause the knitwear to be stretched out.

For very chunky knitwear, for example, our shawl collar cardigans, it may be best to take this to a trusted dry cleaners rather than hand washing, as they would be quite heavy when soaked and can be difficult to dry. 

Pilling 

With knitwear, it is inevitable that you will encounter some pilling (bobbles) on your sweater during its lifetime. This is entirely normal given that our knitwear is made with natural fibres. This is especially the case in the initial stages when the garment is brand new, where the shorter fibres are particularly prone to abrasions and therefore have a propensity to curl up and form little balls on the surface of garments. 

With higher quality knitwear, you may find that this happens more in the beginning but, if washed according to the instructions above, this should reduce over the years as the shorter fibres are brought to the surface and the remaining fibres settle. Hand washing or dry cleaning, therefore, remain the best way to minimise pilling over the long run. You may not see the effects immediately after the first few washes, for example the texture may remain fluffy or the ends of the fibres might continue to stick out; this too is normal as the process of settling the fibres is one that can take a number of years of handwashing once or twice a year to achieve. 

However, if you are short of time and you want to remove pilling quickly, we find that running an emery board (nail file) gently over the affected parts of the sweater the most effective way to pick up these little bobbles, leaving your sweater smooth once again. Be careful not to overdo it or use too much force on the sweater as the fibres are delicate and it can be damaged. In addition, please kindly note that this method is only a "quick fix" and cannot substitute handwashing as a way of minimising pilling in the long run. 

Storing

For day-to-day storage of your knitwear, simply fold your knitwear and put it inside your drawer. Do not hang your knitwear as this will cause it to be stretched out. 

Before you store your knitwear away for a long period of time (for example, over summer), make sure that you wash it first. This is important to keep moths away as they are attracted to dirt and moisture.

Once you have washed it, make sure that it is completely dry. Then put it inside a zip lock bag which is the best way of keeping moths out and keeping your knitwear clean from dust until the next autumn. 

If you have any questions regarding the caring of your garment, please do not hesitate to contact us.