Shrinking a sweater - good idea or dumb one?

[rolando_ol]

I was gifted a barely used Dehen 1920 1/4 moto zip.. And its just a weeeee big on me. I was wondering, has anyone tried throwing it on a cold cycle and drying for like 5 minutes to get it to shrink? Essentially, I need to shrink it like 1/2 a "size". Hoping to hear thoughts... otherwise, I guess it'll go in Classifieds soon

 

[viclip]

I was gifted a barely used Dehen 1920 1/4 moto zip.. And its just a weeeee big on me. I was wondering, has anyone tried throwing it on a cold cycle and drying for like 5 minutes to get it to shrink? Essentially, I need to shrink it like 1/2 a "size". Hoping to hear thoughts... otherwise, I guess it'll go in Classifieds soon

I once washed a sweater in my washing machine, just to clean it, having given no thought to adding Woolite & likely not paying the slightest bit of attention to the water temperature. The sweater shrunk down to a size suitable for a seven-year-old child.

Something tells me that a controlled shrink may be a risky proposition to pursue on a good sweater. You could try experimenting with sweaters picked up at a thrift shop still, sweaters are so diverse that shrinkage may ensue with unexpected results.

 

[Edward]

Yes, bad idea. Either wear it as is, or if you really can't live with the size, sell it and buy something else.

 

[scottyrocks]

I'd wait until the weather is warm, wet it thoroughly, and put it on until it dries.

 

[rolando_ol]

Thanks all for your replies.. I'll have to think about it :-/

 

[tropicalbob]

It's really a crap shoot. I've done it a couple of times: once it worked perfectly and the other time the result was similar to what viclip describes above. My advice is to either live with it or sell.

 

[nightandthecity]

done it a few times in the machine, not sure I'd do it again though. Subjects were all fisherman sweaters: a Shetland flecked "Shaela" , a Le tricoteur guernsey, and (gasp, why did I risk it) a genuine Staithes pattern hand-knitted fishermens gansey.

Instead of the wool wash at 40, I put them in an ordinary wash at 40 but using the shortened run option. It is the scrunching about that shrinks the wool rather than the temperature so this option gives them a more vigorous wash but not too prolonged. The result in every case was that the sweaters shrank almost, but not quite, how I wanted.

All of them shrank upwards rather than across, which was fine in the body, but the arms always shrank too much - not so much as to make them unwearable, but enough to be irritating. The actual wool felted slightly overall, quite a traditional and attractive look in a fisherman's sweater, and I didn't mind that. The staithes gansey I had hoped to shrink in the width, but no, it still bellows out like a ra-ra skirt at the bottom.

Basically I'd say if the thing is a full size or more too long in the arms and body risk it. If you want to shrink the width don't.