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How to Unshrink a Wool Sweater (We Tried Four Methods)
Read the guide: How to Unshrink a Wool Sweater (We Tried Four Methods)Some shrunken sweaters come back and some never will. We tested four home methods on lightly shrunk and badly felted wool, and one clearly did better than the rest.
Newest guides
Stain first aid
What to do in the first five minutes, before you look anything up.
| Stain | Do this first | Don’t |
|---|---|---|
| Grease or cooking oil | Blot, then work in a drop of dish soap. Full method | Tumble dry before it is gone |
| Red wine | Blot, then rinse with cold water from the back of the fabric | Rub it, or use hot water |
| Coffee or tea | Rinse with cold water from the back, then a little liquid detergent | Let it dry first |
| Blood | Soak in cold water as soon as you can | Use warm or hot water, which sets it |
| Ballpoint ink | Dab with rubbing alcohol on a cloth, paper towel underneath | Scrub outward from the mark |
| Mud | Let it dry fully, brush it off, then wash | Wipe it while it is wet |
Whatever it is: blot, don’t rub, and test anything stronger than water on a hidden seam first.
Read the label
Five symbols turn up on nearly every tag. Learn these and most care labels stop being a puzzle.
Wash cool
No bleach
Tumble low
Iron cool
Dry flat
What this site is
A plain reference for choosing, wearing, looking after and paying for clothes.
01 · Tried at home
Every method is tried on our own clothes before it’s written up.
02 · Nothing for sale
No shop, no sponsors and no paid mentions anywhere on the site.
03 · Mistakes get fixed
If a guide turns out to be wrong, we correct it and say so.
Ask us
Got a stain or a label we haven’t covered?
Tell us the fabric and what happened. We can’t reply to every question one by one, but the ones we can try at home often turn into the next guide.