Knitwear Repairs

When it comes to cleaning your GS sweaters and cardigans, we believe that hand-washing is the best approach. It not only naturally softens the fibres, but also helps to maintain the yarn’s sumptuous quality. To help you keep your knitwear looking and feeling its best, we’ve created this step-by-step guide to walk you through the process. Tried, tested and refined by Genevieve herself.

STEP 1.
Firstly, make sure that the basin you are using is clean so that no other products can harm the yarns. Use a gentle garment detergent such as our bespoke wool and cashmere wash, or alternatively, you can also use baby shampoo, which tends to be very delicate.
Add the recommended amount to cool water and run your hands through to make sure it’s distributed evenly.

STEP 2.
Turn your sweater or cardigan inside-out and submerge in the water, moving it gently through the suds. For troubled areas – such as stains – carefully massage a small amount of detergent into the area, rinsing and repeating as necessary. Then gently rinse the whole garment until the water runs clear.

STEP 3.
Do not wring or twist your garment; instead, gently press the excess water out before placing it onto a clean, dry bath towel. Roll up the towel and press with your palms to continue squeezing out the water. Remove and place flat onto another dry towel, arranging your sweater or cardigan into its original shape. Leave it to air dry, replacing the towel as necessary.

Never tumble dry your knitwear – not only will this cause it to shrink and misshape, but over time it wears fibres down, knocking the life out of them. It’s also not environmentally friendly – it releases fibres into the waterways, which is particularly harmful if there are any synthetic elements.

PILLING.
After a little wear, you may start to notice small balls of fibre forming in areas where there is more friction – such as the underarms or side seams. This pilling is a completely normal process with wool or cashmere and only requires a little maintenance to keep your garments looking as good as new. Pilling can be easily removed using a product like
our specially-designed cedar wood pill comb. That said, try to avoid combing too often as excessive use can cause yarn fibres to break.

At GS, in order to preserve the natural beauty of the fibres we choose not to treat our cashmere (a process that involves repeatedly washing and adding chemicals). This means that our cashmere doesn’t quite have that well-known ‘super-soft’ handle, but it considerably reduces the chance of pilling. It also allows the cashmere to gradually and naturally soften over time, resulting in longer-lasting quality that still feels beautiful to the touch.

For Brushed Wool Styles such as the Lunan, Leslie, Laide and Leven- the pilling may occur in a different way to an un-brushed style. Instead of small balls of fibre forming the brushed wool may rub together where there is more friction – such as the underarms or side seams. A normal process and requires a little maintenance to keep looking as good as new. As the fibres are brushed and elongated to create this almost felted texture, we recommend brushing with a gentle wire brush to even out and elongate the fibres again and look as new again.

STORAGE.
When storing your GS sweaters and cardigans, it is best to wrap them in acid-free tissue paper and store in a clean, dry area. Avoid hanging as this can cause garments to lose their shape and also leaves hanger indentations in the shoulders.

If you are worried about moths, try adding natural lavender, rosemary or cloves to your drawers or wardrobe. These are an effective alternative to mothballs, which often have added chemicals that can cause irritation to allergy sufferers, small children and animals.
Alternatively, try our GS lavender and cedar wood bags. Hand-crafted using lavender picked by Genevieve herself at a local farm in beautiful Finchingfield, Essex, they’re kinder to our environment and our families – human or animal.