How To Take Care Of Your Woollen Scarves

Woollen Scarves, An Essential For Winter

When you think of winter, you think of cosy woollen clothes and staples. The chilly season means wearing warm, durable, and comfortable clothes; and one of the most sought-after staples is a woollen scarf.

A good quality woollen scarf is a must-have accessory to wear with your winter outfits.

Now, woollen scarves for women can be found in plenty but you need to find the one that not only looks pretty but also will keep you warm enough, and that truly is woollen in nature. So, when shopping for this essential keep your eye out on cashmere and merino wool scarves; they are lightweight, soft, and perfect for colder weathers. Cashmere can be a little pricey so if you want a warmer and affordable woollen scarf, the option to lean towards would be merino wool.

How To Maintain Woollen Scarves?

There are quite a few steps and things that need to be kept in mind when taking care of woollen scarves. While wool in general is a self-cleaning or airing fabric it does require minimal care to ensure durability.

How To Clean Woollen Scarves?

As we mentioned above, wool is a breathable fabric, so it does not need to be rigorously washed. Having said that, it is important to clean your scarves time to time. Here are three approaches you can use to clean your woollen scarves. For best results, always refer to the cleaning instructions mentioned on the care label of your scarf.

Option 1: Hand wash:

This is a simple and direct method of washing woollen scarves. All you have to do is:

Step 1: Fill your sink or a large bowl with cold water and mild laundry detergent (there are some specific ones that you can find that tend to wool).
Step 2: Mix the detergent in the water well, and then submerge your woollen scarf into the mixture for about 10 minutes.
Tip: Ensure that you do this one woollen scarf at a time so that it does not spoil the fabric or becomes a hassle for you.
Step 3: To wash the scarf, you need to gently rub the areas with your hand.
Pro tip: do not rub them against each other, or the fabric will get damaged.
Step 4: Once this step is done, you can remove the woollen scarf and rinse it twice in clean, cold water.

Option 2: Machine wash:

Not all woollen scarves can be machine washed. Why? Because the heat in the machine causes the fabric to shrink and lose its shape. So, if the care label on your woollen scarf mentions that it is safe to machine wash then only go ahead and follow these two simple steps:

Step 1: Put your woollen scarves into the machine and add the gentle detergent and fabric softener into the dispensing drawer (of the machine).
Step 2: Turn on your machine and ensure that you either turn the ‘wool wash’ mode on (if you have it) or the ‘gentle’ mode.
Tip: it has to be at a very low spin - because if there are higher or faster spins, that would mean that your scarf is being pulled and heated; that will damage it.

How To Dry Woollen Scarves After Hand Wash Or Machine Wash?

Washing woollen scarves is quite simple, but its drying process is a little delicate. But don’t you worry, we have the steps that you need to follow to make your experience hassle-free.

Once your woollen scarf is washed, you need to drain out the water that is soaked in. For that, you need to lay it down on a flat surface and press the water out from the fabric. Do this gently (you can add towels below that if you want so that your surface does not get wet.
Pro tip: do not wring or hang your woollen scarves to dry as that will stretch the fabric and only spoil your scarf.
If the above process is quite time-consuming, we have an alternative. Lay your washed woollen scarves onto a dry and flat surface (you can add towels below that if you want so that your surface does not get wet). Roll your scarves up gently and squeeze out the excess water. This will help dry your scarves.
Tip: do not squeeze them tightly or keep them rolled up for long because then they will lose their shape.

Option 3: Dry cleaned:

This approach is by far the most simple and hassle-free one. If you are concerned that you may not be able to wash your woollen scarves with either of the above-mentioned methods, then go for this option because professional dry cleaners know exactly how to clean them.

Now that you know how to wash and dry your beloved woollen scarves, you also need to know how to take care of them in tough situations, for example: when there is a stain on them or when they have pills on them.

How To Take Care Of Woollen Scarves?

Some day, you may come across situations where you find a stain on your woollen scarf and you will have to get that cleaned or when there are pills formed on your scarf. While these thoughts may form a cloud over your head, we have solutions to put you at ease.

Removing stains:

Stains are a bane. No matter how big or small, it is easily spotted and we just want to get rid of it. In order to remove stains on woollen scarves, just follow these steps:

Step 1: Wet the area that has a stain and gently apply the delicate (gentle) detergent to it.
Step 2: Treat that stain with a cloth, by gently removing the soap and dirt. You can use soft towels or pillow covers to do so.
Step 3: Ensure that you remove the stain by dampening the cloth over and over again until the stain has faded.
Bonus Tip: tend to your stain immediately otherwise it tends to stay on making it tougher to fade.

Depilling woollen scarves:

What is pilling?

Pilling is a natural occurrence in woollen clothes. It is a small, fluff ball formed on woollen clothing. This happens due to repetitive wear or rubbing of the garment and is extremely common and natural to this type of a fibre. In no way is pilling indicative of the fact that your woollen garment is not of good quality or not taken care of. However, if you want to depill your woollen clothing you can do so by a certain technique.

The technique is known as depiling, all you have to do is take a depilling comb or a bobble remover and comb it in one direction of the scarf (where the pills are formed). Do this to those areas till you see those pills are knotted out.

How To Store Woollen Scarves?

While we may take many steps to maintain and clean a woollen scarf, it is also equally important to store it properly for its durability.

Store your woollen scarves in either a breathable bag like a cotton storage bag or hang it in your wardrobe
Ensure that it is stored in a cool, dark and dry place, because moths are easily attracted to such fabrics so it is important to store them correctly
Air out your woollen scarves from time to time

Maintaining and storing woollen scarves is simple; doing so will for sure increase the lifetime of your favourite scarves. We hope these steps help you take care of your woollen scarves easily.