Benfieri — Knitwear Care Guide | benfieri.com
An ordered procedure: cold or 30 °C maximum, mild detergent, squeeze instead of wring, dry flat — with minutes per stage and what heat does to wool scales.
Wool fibres shrink and felt when washed hot and agitated, because the microscopic scales on the fibre surface lock together. Heat softens the fibre, movement pushes the scales past each other, and once they interlock the fabric stays tight at a smaller gauge. This is felted shrinkage, and it is irreversible.
The safe wool wash is cold or at most 30 degrees Celsius, with the garment squeezed, never wrung, and dried flat to keep its shape. Cotton knitwear tolerates machine washing better than wool, but the drying rule is the same: lay it flat, because hanging stretches the shoulders.
Turn the sweater inside out first — the inner face takes the friction, so the outer surface pills less. Use a wool or delicate detergent; ordinary detergent is too alkaline for wool and strips the fibre's natural grease.
On narrow screens, swipe or scroll the plate sideways.
Fill a basin with cold water or water at 30 °C at most, submerge the garment and press it gently for about 2 minutes. Do not rub, do not brush, do not twist. Lift it out and press the water through the fabric with flat hands.
To remove water, roll the sweater in a clean towel and press — the towel wicks moisture without distorting the knit. Never wrung, the garment keeps its shoulder line; wrung, it sets a permanent twist.
Dry flat on a rack or a dry towel, away from radiators and direct sun, and reshape the shoulders and hem by hand while it is still damp. A fine-gauge sweater is dry in a few hours; a chunky knit at 3 stitches per inch can take a full day because it holds more water.
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