flat drying a jumper

xxbutterflygirlxx

Walking home last night I looked in the window of a charity shop (as you do) and saw a black motif crochet shawl. Set the alarm for 8.30 this morning and duly went and bagged my bargain (£4 not bad as I had been planning on making one). I also found a lovely DKNY red cotton diagonal knit jumper for £3.25 which was dry clean only. I popped it in the washing machine and it came out fine. So far it has been drying on a towel on DD3s trampoline but I haven't got a clue what to do with it when I bring it in. I really don't want to put it on the radiator or hang it up, I would much prefer to dry it flat but I just can't think of a way. Any brainwaves?

Curry_Queen

What my mum used to do to flat dry something was to put the garment between two towels then put that under the hearth rug in the living room LOL!

I've also seen gadgets you can buy from Betterware and such-like that you can spread across the bath to flat dry a grament on, but I guess you don't have one of those to hand. Something I've done in the past is to place the garment on a towel and then roll it up and place it in the airing cupboard to dry and it always did the trick

xxbutterflygirlxx

Thanks Curry Queen, no I don't have one of those devices, never seen the need for one until now! Don't have an airing cupboard as we are on a combi boiler - moving soon to a house with proper heating again so I will have one then! Good idea about rolling it in a towel. I will put it on top of the radiator when I switch them on in a bit.

pol

I usually put them on a towel in any room I have floor space in. It only takes overnight, after that they can go on a padded hanger (great use for unwanted shoulder pads!) somewhere room temperature.

pol

Debt_Free_Chick

Lay the garment out on any flat surface, with a towel underneath - a bed in the spare room would be ideal, or the back of the sofa. Essentially, you don't want the garment to hang or drape as it's likely to be stretched out of shape.

Smooth the garment out gently - don't pull it. Make sure the seams are straight.

Once dry, you can gently press it or use a steam iron.

When cool, I then fold carefully with a sheet of tissue paper in the middle of the garment and store flat in a drawer or on a shelf. If you're worried about moths, place the garment in a plastic bag. I keep bags from bought items for this reason - especially the ones that men's shirts come in - ideal for this!

Whilst the padded hangers are nice, you should not really hang woollen garments at all as they will eventually stretch out of shape.

And I wouldn't dream of putting any woollen item in the w/machine, even if the label says machine washable. I only ever wash by hand, in pure soap flakes, squeeze, rinse then place inside a stocking and spin gently. Dry flat as above etc .... I have cashmere that's about 15 years old now and still going strong. I guess it depends on how long you really want to keep the garment. If you ever fork out for cashmere from N Peal you'll expect it to last a lifetime :eek:

HTH

mah_jong

With my woolies, I tend to hand wash with a short fast spin.

Then I dry these flatish..... I use two the top two rungs on my pull up zig zag clothes horse (you know the thing I mean!!!). I lie the sweater over and then put the sleeves down the front. Dries fine, at least no disasters yet!