How do I wash this sweater?

penciltopper — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 11:58:05 -0800

Grownup has never washed a nice sweater. Help. OK, so I got a couple of nice merino & cashmere sweaters for Xmas. Maybe as a hint that the wool/woolblend sweaters I owned were no longer socially acceptable, having been worn for years & never been washed. (blush)

I poked around a bit on the boards, and there are lots of things mentioned for sweaterwashing, then contradicted, then ???

So I need some votes:

1) Drycleaners, espcially with the cashmere
2) Dryel at the laundromat
3) Wash 'em in the sink, then spread out to dry
3a) with woolite
3b) woolite is death, buy special goo at the yarn store
4) write in candidate here

I have another sweater question while i'm at it.
All my sweaters, cotton, wool, whatever, make me look like I've got a "muffin top". (Chest fits, waist at hem/ribbing fits - but they bag out above the waist so that it looks like I'm trying to smuggle a bicycle tire underneath.)
I don't actually have a muffin top, and if I tug the hem down, everything is fine for a few minutes until it rides up and I'm back to dumpy again.
What am I doing wrong here?

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How do I wash this sweater?