How to wash sweaters at home

Care labels can guide your laundry process and help you better care for your clothes. Following your care labels can help prevent common issues in clothing, such as shrinkage or color fading. Some sweaters may need to be hand washed only, while others may call for cold water during wash cycles.

If you need help understanding what the symbols on your care labels actually mean, use this laundry symbol guide to tackle laundry day effectively.

Once you’ve learned how to properly care for each garment, sort your sweaters into laundry baskets according to how they need to be washed. Clothes are commonly sorted by color, fabric type and soil level, as this will determine their wash cycle. Sorting your sweaters can provide the ideal care to each item and prevent damage, such as fabric pilling.

Your piles of sorted sweaters will determine your loads. Load your washing machine with each sorted pile, making sure to turn sweaters inside out to help prevent pilling and leaving the piles that instruct you to handwash to the side. Put your load loosely into your washing machine and around your washer’s impeller or agitator, if you have a top load washer. 

Be careful to avoid overfilling your washing machine. Do not pack down loads into your washing machine, as this can impact performance. If need be, separate one large load into two smaller sized loads. This can be beneficial for both your clothes and your washing machine.

Next, add your detergent, being careful to add the recommended amount. Using too much detergent can impact your washing machine's performance and leave residual detergent behind on your clothes. Swash^® Laundry Detergent from Whirlpool Corporation comes with a Precision Pour Cap that dispenses detergent for you, so you only pour what your family needs.

Washing your sweaters on the proper cycle and using the correct water temperature will help keep them soft and bright longer. Most sweaters, such as wool and acrylic knits, will likely call for a cold cycle or a gentle wash cycle to help keep the fabric from becoming damaged.

Use your sweater’s fabric care label to help guide you through this step. If you have multiple sweaters in one load that call for different wash settings, select the most gentle option to be safe.

Begin to load your dryer with your wet sweaters, leaving those that need to be air dried to the side. Be careful to not overfill your dryer drum, as this can prevent your clothes from drying properly. As an optional step, you can place a dryer sheet into the dryer drum to help prevent static and make your clothes feel softer. 

Larger loads may need two sheets. Refer to your dryer sheet packaging to guide how many dryer sheets are suitable for your specific load.

Each sweater is different, made of unique fabrics that call for certain drying cycles. Refer to your sweaters’ fabric care label to find out which drying cycle is safest for your garments. To prevent shrinkage, many sweaters may need to be dried on a gentle cycle and a low heat setting. 

Whirlpool^® dryers help your clothes receive an optimal dry every time. With features such as Advanced Moisture Sensing and 4 Drying Cycles on select models, you can choose a cycle and setting to achieve the ideal dryness.

Prevent wrinkling by removing your clothes from the dryer right after your drying cycle is complete. Select Whirlpool^® dryers come with a Damp Dry Signal, which allows you to remove your garments before they’re completely dry so you can let them hang dry for the remaining period. This can help reduce shrinkage and provide quality care to gentle items.