Most knitwear is ruined by being washed too often and dried the wrong way. Both are avoidable.
Wool is self-cleaning to a useful degree: the fibre releases odour when it airs. A knit worn twice a week needs washing perhaps three or four times a season. Between wears, hang it somewhere with moving air for a few hours — not in a wardrobe, and not folded while still warm.
Spot-clean a mark rather than washing the whole garment. Cold water, a drop of wool detergent, blotted rather than rubbed.
| Step | What to do | What not to do |
|---|---|---|
| Water | Cool, no warmer than 30 °C | Never hot — it felts, irreversibly |
| Detergent | A wool detergent, a teaspoon | No biological detergent; the enzymes eat wool |
| Agitation | Hand wash, or a machine wool cycle | No normal cycle, no pre-wash |
| Spin | 400 rpm at most | No high spin — it stretches the body |
| Rinse | Same temperature as the wash | No temperature change; it shocks the fibre |
| Drying | Flat on a towel, reshaped while damp | Never hang wet, never tumble, never on a radiator |
Hanging a wet jumper. The weight of the water pulls the body 5 to 10 cm longer and it does not go back. Dry everything flat.
Pills are short fibres working loose, and every wool knit does it where it rubs — underarm, cuff, and where a bag strap sits. It is not a fault and it stops once the loose fibres are gone, usually after two or three wears' worth of de-pilling.
Use a comb or a knit stone, laid flat, in one direction. Do not use a razor: it cuts the good fibres as well as the pills.
Moths eat soiled wool in still, dark air. Store knitwear clean, folded, with cedar or lavender, and open the drawer occasionally. If you find a hole, freeze the garment for 72 hours in a sealed bag before repairing it, or you will darn the eggs in with it.
For 3 years from the date on your order we will repair any knitwear from this range free of charge, including return postage, whether or not the damage was our fault:
What is not covered: pilling (normal, and you can fix it yourself in ten minutes), felting from a hot wash, stretching from being hung wet, and colour fading from sunlight. Those are all care rather than construction.
Out of the 3 years, or not covered? We still repair it, from €15,00 for a darn and €35,00 for a re-knitted cuff, quoted before we start.
This repair service is offered on top of the two-year legal conformity period under EU and Dutch consumer law. It does not replace or shorten those rights.