Decent knitwear is so easily accessible these days; as the weather cools and the leaves begin to fall, we are just itching to get our hands on this season’s latest treats. But perhaps we should spend as much eagerness into our care instructions as we do to make the initial purchase. After all, knitwear requires the highest level of caution when it comes to washing and who doesn’t want their pieces looking as good as new for months on end?!

GENERAL RULES TO LIVE BY
Rule number one: always read the care label for washing instructions. We know it sounds silly and obvious, but alas we all have busy lives and more often than not we will try to cut corners. You’ve already spent your hard-earned money on this need-right-now item, don’t cut its time with you short.

Rule two: if in doubt, hand wash with a mild detergent. Although it’s not a desirable task when your schedule is tight, we cannot stress enough how much your knit will thank you for it. It’s actually recommended you wash your sweaters just once or twice every season in order to maintain their shape and resilience, so not such a chore after all!

CASHMERE
A luxurious fabric harvested from the Kashmir goat, this fabric requires a lot of attention if you want to get the best results from your knitwear. You should never (we repeat, never!) put cashmere in the washing machine or a dryer, and if we even see you reaching for a hanger to hang it up we’ll slap that hand right away! This will cause stretch marks and lines; see, we weren’t messing around when we say it needs attention. Just trust us and always hand wash!

WOOL (LAMBS & MERINO)
Much like cashmere, we beg you stay clear of your washing machine and dryer when it comes to both lambs and merino wool. Don’t fall into the trap of the ‘Machine Washable’ instruction, this may as well read ‘Machine Wash at Your Peril’. Hand wash yours with a light detergent, taking care not to twist or wring the knit dry; instead, gently squeeze dry with a towel then lay down to try on a dry towel.

INVEST IN THIS
With a mission to inspire everyone to take better care of their clothes, Steamery create beautiful and easy-to-use tools for clothing care; they combine high technology with Scandinavian design. The result - simplistic tools that will make your clothes last longer.

Their small ‘Pila’ device is the perfect tool to repair and smooth out damaged fabric surfaces, and the travel-sized steamer should be your trusty companion on every future vacation. After years of experience in the fashion industry, founders Petra, Martin and Frej realized that consumers didn’t know how to take care of their clothes in the right way and so decided to change that by making clothing care fun, easy and accessible. Long live the steamer!