It’s a familiar story: you buy a beautiful knit and within a few months, sometimes weeks, a colony of bobbles has appeared down the side, the arms and across the chest. Worse again: despite your best efforts, your knit comes out one inch shorter when you finally cave and pop it in the wash. By now, we all know that we need to invest in and care for knitwear correctly, but what exactly should we be doing to get the longest life span out of our knits? We asked the experts for their advice …

Main image: Instagram @anddaughter.

“We overwash our knits,” says Killiney-based knitwear designer Ros Duke. As well as being bad for the environment – washing and dry cleaning uses water, energy and releases toxins into our oceans, with huge environmental impact – it shortens the life span of our clothes. “If you have a stain, try spot-washing it gently, rather than washing the full piece. Ask yourself: would a couple of hours outside being aired be enough? Sometimes it is,” Duke says. 

While most care labels will approve a 30-degree wash, opt for a hand-wash if you can. “Be gentle – loving even – when you hand-wash your knitwear. You should wash knitwear like you are washing the hair of somebody you love. Don’t wring it hard or beat it around the sink. Knitwear does not like to be agitated. Use a natural detergent and, depending on the fibre, a fabric conditioner,” according to Duke. (Note: cashmere and wool don’t like conditioners.)

“Roll the wet knit in a clean towel, pressing as you roll. Your knit garment should be dried flat – so you do not stretch the shape of the garment. When you hang it on a line, gravity will make it stretch and the shape will become distorted. Unroll the towel and lay your knit on a dry towel, reshape if you need to, and dry it flat, turning after about 12 hours,” Duke says.

What about snagging? “Avoid wearing jewellery that can snag and pull on stitches. Equally, if you do use a machine wash, do not wash your knits with other garments that have hardware,” advises Jane Flanagan of Irish fashion brand Style Ignite Studio (check out the brand’s coveted selection of cardigans here). “If you do have a snag or a hole, turn your knit inside out and gently pull the extra yarn through to the inside,” Flanagan says. Always store your knits folded flat, rather than hanging in your wardrobe, to avoid stretching and losing any shape.

Pilling in knitwear will naturally occur in areas of friction. Although, the yarn used affects how bad the pilling is. “Shorter fibre lengths create a rougher fibre surface which is prone to pilling. That’s why cheaper knits – made of a mix of man-made and natural fibres bobble rather quickly,” Duke explains. However natural fibres also pill too. While there are lots of devices on the market to rid your knitwear of balling, including handheld combs and machines, there is one method that trumps all. “The best thing is sitting down with your sweater when you have a bit of time and very gently pulling off the pills by hand,” Duke says. However, there is one hack to avoid at all costs: “I don’t recommend using a blunt razor for my cashmere pieces as it is too easy to cut the knit and damage it,” Duke advises.