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Caring for Your Cashmere Knitwear

 Cashmere products are delicate and do require care.
They respond well to washing and frequent pressing. Properly cared for they last a long while.

Here are a few tips and tricks that will help you get the best results from your cashmere knit.

Washing: Cashmere garments are best washed by hand in warm soapy water. Use a pure natural soap. Do not rub heavily, squeeze hard, or ring dry. Spin-dry if desired. A high-speed spin will leave the garment almost dry.  Spread to shape and dry flat, away from direct sunlight.
Do not use eucalyptus based wool wash compounds or synthetic soaps or conditioners. Cashmere responds best to pure natural soaps.

DO NOT TUMBLE DRY this promotes excessive fluffing and fibre break-up.

Pressing: Iron lightly with steam, or use a damp cloth and wool setting. Frequent pressing beds down fibres dislodged during washing and wearing, it will extend the life of the garment.

Re-Shaping: Spreading to the correct shape after washing is important. The washing process releases the stresses and changes in shape occasioned by daily wear. Washing tends to restore the garment to original condition, but the final dimensions are set during the drying phase. Thus shaping to increase body length or shorten/lengthen sleeves will have an effect.

Felting: Cashmere will felt under certain conditions. Felting is usually caused by some aggressive mechanical action in combination with damp fibre. Felting in cashmere, is to some extent, reversible. Light felting can be rectified by vigorously stretching the dry garment. Once felting reaches a certain stage it is no longer reversible. So fix it in the early stages.

Snagging: Be careful with rings and jewellery.  Snagging can cause irreparable damage.

Pilling and Fluffing: Occur with most natural fibres. It is a known fact that some people pill garments badly and others do not. Pilling, if it occurs, is generally a transient thing, the problem decreasing with washing and wearing.

There is much you can do to minimize pilling and fluffing.

• If a garment starts to pill – remove pills then wash and press.

• Avoid wearing delicate garments under rough or abrasive outer clothing.

• Avoid shoulder bags with abrasive straps.

Dry Cleaning: This is neither essential or preferred. Dry Cleaning tends to remove the essential oils that give cashmere its vitality. Be warned that many Dry Cleaning companies now use automatic equipment that process all materials on the one standard cycle. This can felt and shrink delicate cashmere and wool knits.

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