Wear

Wool is a great natural fibre which is comfortable and warm, but it does need the right care to maintain the look and feel of the garments. Generally, all animal hairs can shrink or matt up unless treated properly to prevent felting.

Rest woollen garments prior to wearing by unfolding and lying flat, this gives the natural resilience and spring the wool fibre contents, time to recover and return to it's original shape.

Lighter woollen garments may take a little longer for creases to subside. Generally woollen garments will not require ironing but sometimes finer fabrics may look better if pressed or streamed. Use an iron on the wool setting and avoiding the fabric becoming totally dry, use a damp cloth to press. Another option is to hang garment on a suitable padded hanger in a streamy bathroom, the moisture from the stream will also remove wrinkles and refresh the garment.

Wash/care

Always read the care instructions carefully prior to washing any woollen garments.

Irrespective of which method you use for washing wool garments, it is recommended you turn then inside out before washing. This will prevent any rubbing from effecting the outside of the garment, which will prolong the items look and feel and any fuzzing will occur on the inside.

Before laundering make sure all buttons and zippers are closed to avoid snagging, sagging or budging.

Dry clean only garments, please ensure they are taken to a professional dry cleaners for laundering.

Hand washing

To hand wash your woollen garments, turn inside out and swish through luke warm (about 30 degrees) or cold water. Wool doesn't requir much rubbing or squeezing, so as little manual handling as possible willl prevent fibres from felting and shrinking. Often a soak with an approved gentle wool specific detergent is sufficient.

Machine washing

Some woollen garments can be machine washed. Please check care instructions prior to washing to make sure your garment is machine washable. Ideally wash, machine-washable garments on a wool or gentle hand wash cycle in luke warm or cold water. Water should not be hotter than 30 degrees. Common mistakes people make when hand or mahcine washing woollen garments is using water that is too hot or overworking the fabric which results in felting or shrinking the fibres.

Drying

As wet wool stretches easily, we need to be careful when drying our hand and machine washed woollen garments. Minimal handling such as squeezing and rubbing is the best approach.

Wool is naturally a creamy colour but it tends to yellow when exposed to direct sunlight for long periods and when wet will yellow more rapidly. Particularly pale pastel shades and whites, will change colour if overtime they are exposed to sunlight. For this reason, always dry your woollen garments away from direct sunlight and heat, at room temperature with good air circulation.

Always dry woollen garments flat to avoid stretching and distorting the items.

For hand washed woollen garments, gently squeeze off excess water, then place in a towel and press as much water out of the garment as possible. Reshape your garment and let it dry flat on a new dry towel away from direct sunlight and heat.

For machine washed woollen garments gently shake out and reshape before laying flat to dry away from direct sunlight and heat.

Store

Store garments with buttons or zippers closed to maintain the shape of the garment.

Woven wool pieces can be hung on shaped or padded coat hangers.

Knitted wool garments should always be folded and stored flat in drawers or on a shelf. Never hang knitted garments on a hanger as they can stretch and distort the original shape.

To pack winter woollen garments away at the end of the season, make sure items are freshly washed and when dry, store in an airtight bag or container.

Pilling

Pilling is the formation of fuzzy balls on the surface of garments. This is caused by normal rubbing during wear or washing.

Although pilling can occur in any part of a garment, the most common areas are underarms, sleeves and the torso where there is a higher chance of friction occurring as a result of coming into contact with other surfaces.

Always wash your woollen garments inside out so any light rubbing will only affect the inside. Also avoid using fabric softener.

Pills can be removed easily, using a de-pilling comb which are available for sale in all our Fella Hamilton stores or online. When using the comb this should be done very gently and carefully.

Another option for removing the pills is a small battery-operated pill and lint removal device, known as a de-piller or fabric shaver.