How To Care For Your Aran Woolens And Other Knitwear
Wool clothing has been popular for many, many years, and has been a staple of many parts of the country. It’s a renewable and sustainable material, which means there’s plenty of it to use and more can be produced. It also offers great protection against the elements, keeping you warm on those colder days or excursions into the great outdoors.
Compared to other materials, wool is hardy and lasts a lot longer than other fabrics or synthetic materials. The wear and tear you might find on other clothes takes longer to show with wool clothing and knitwear, which has only boosted their popularity further.
That said, you do need to take care when washing your wool garments, as it doesn’t react the same way as other materials. We’re going to take a look at the best ways to care for your knitwear and wool clothing, such as the great pieces from Arans Woolens.
Behind Aran Woolens Knitwear
With more than 50 years creating quality wool clothing, Aran Woolens has developed their own unique style while keeping all the benefits the material offers. Their collections are both classic and refreshing, offering something new without losing what makes them special, but even more care goes into the production of each piece of clothing.
It takes around 100,000 stitches to complete an Aran jumper. Each stitch is steeped in history and symbolism:
- The Moses stitch symbolises an abundance of growth
- The Blackberry stitch represents nature
- Honeycomb stitch represents plenty and is classed as a lucky stitch
- Lattice and Basket stitches represent the old wicker baskets of the fishermen’s wives
- The Tree of Life represents family and the stages of life.
Knowing that each stitch has been crafted with love and attention to detail gives each item much more value to everyone who owns them. You’ll never want to give them up.
Caring For Your Aran Knitwear
Caring for Aran knitwear is a little different from other clothing. If you don’t check the label for instructions, you could end up ruining your favourite jumper - and no one wants that.
Airing your garment regularly is a better choice than regular washing for an Aran piece. Regular washing, especially machine washing, can damage the fibres in the wool and cause breakages and stress over time that means you won’t be able to wear it for as long as you’d like.
Before Cleaning Your Aran Woolen Knitwear
When it is time to wash your garment, we suggest that you never put it in the washing machine or tumble dryer as this will definitely cause it to shrink, nevermind the damage it will cause to the fibres and material.
There are three points that can cause damage to your item;
- Too much heat
- Too much agitation
- Too much washing powder!
Each individual fibre of wool has little jagged edges called cuticles. When they are woven together, they help the fibres to bind to one another. Too much agitation, from washing or tumble drying, causes the fibres to grip on to each other tightly and causes them to stick to each other rather than just gripping.
Felt, for example, is made by agitating wool fibres and you do not want this to happen to your jumper!
Wool is also an animal product, and as such is full of proteins. Detergents contain an enzyme called protease which breaks down proteins and cleans them out of the fabric. That’s all well and good if you have ketchup on your t-shirt but protease is designed to destroy proteins, which isn’t a good thing for a garment made up of proteins in the first place.
How To Clean Aran Knitwear
To make sure you can enjoy your Aran Woolen clothing for as long as possible, follow these steps to clean your knitwear and keep it in good condition.
- Handwash your Aran garment in lukewarm water, with a small amount of baby shampoo.
- Try not to handle the garment too much whilst washing, as this will damage the fibres.
- Carefully rinse the garment with lukewarm water only and again try not to handle it too much.
- Dry your sweater by lying it flat on a few towels. Never wring it out.
- If there’s a lot of excess water, lay the item flat on top of a towel and roll the towel and item together, like a sausage roll and press firmly but do not twist.
If in doubt check the manufacturers washing guide found on the garments label, the garment will have been tested to the highest quality and the instructions will have been approved by the manufacturer to ensure it retains its quality.
If you have any questions about caring for your Aran Woolen clothing or other knitwear, please get in touch with our team who will be happy to help.
