Shrunk jumper: how to stretch it back

30 minutes plus overnight drying. Costs a few cents.

Try this first (costs nothing extra): fill a basin with lukewarm water. Add a tablespoon of hair conditioner and swish it. Put the jumper in for 10 minutes. The conditioner relaxes the fibres so they can be stretched.

Stretch it back

1. Lift the jumper out without wringing it. Wringing twists and tears wet wool.
2. Lay it on a thick towel and roll the towel up to press out the water.
3. Unroll it on a second dry towel.
4. Pull it gently back to the right width and length. Tug evenly, and use the label size or another jumper that fits as a guide.
5. Leave it flat to dry, away from direct heat. This often takes a day.

Do not rinse it again. A little conditioner left in the wool is fine.

If that does not work

• Repeat once. A second soak sometimes gives another centimetre or two.
• Steam, not iron. Hold a steamer a few centimetres away and ease the fibres.
• Felted wool. If the surface is thick, dense and fuzzy, the fibres have locked together. They do not come undone.

Shrinking in the wash is mostly caused by heat and rubbing. Next time, use the wool setting or a cool hand wash and dry flat. Check the care label.

Fix it, replace it or live with it

• Fix it: it is a size or less too small and the knit still looks normal.
• Replace it: the wool is thick and felted or the shape is lopsided.
• Live with it: give a shrunk jumper to a child or use it as a cushion cover. Not every fix has to be perfect.

Moths, pilling and thinning elbows are other wear problems. Use the same rule as for shoes: if the cost is small and the damage is surface level, fix it. If it will not keep its shape, replace it.

For a method to wash clothes without damaging them, see how to get sweat stains out of white shirts, which also covers care-label rules.