How To Clean 100% Alpaca Knitwear
When you clean your alpaca knitwear, you’ll need to follow five steps:
- Pretreating
- Washing
- Rinsing
- Drying
- Storing
Let’s explore each step in more detail, so you can clean wool like a pro and keep your cardigan looking like brand new, even with long-term use.
Pretreating Your Alpaca Wool
Before properly washing your alpaca wool, we recommend starting off by pretreating stains with a gentle stain remover, specifically designed for wool. This is especially useful if you’re dealing with tough stains.
Note: Always test any solutions you’re using in a single spot, before applying them to the entire garment.
When presoaking your garment, only use cool water, and only soak for 10-15 minutes before the wash. Leaving it to soak for too long can affect the soft finish of the fabric.
Washing Your Alpaca Wool
Hand washing is the safest way to clean your alpaca garment. Since the fibres are delicate, hand washing allows you to be more gentle and not treat the garment too roughly. Here are our best tips on how to hand-wash knitwear:
- Submerge the piece of clothing in the cool water and gently agitate with your hands so you can evenly distribute the detergent.
- Keep in mind that alpaca fabric is quite sensitive to agitation and can shrink if you treat it too roughly.
- Let it soak for about 30 minutes.
This washing method is suitable for all items in these categories: