Washing cashmere

I just use a small amount of ordinary laundry liquid - always handwash and no fabric conditioner.

Woolite would also be fine. Cashmere is a kind of wool, after all. Hand wash, spin dry or roll up in towels then air dry flat.

Recommendations for special cashmere detergents are just sales ads. You can ignore them.

I have a few of their cashmere sweaters as they don't irritate my skin like lambs/merino wool and are lovely and warm and last for years. I hand wash them in wool wash detergent from the Co-op range and add fabric conditioner to the final rinse,then dry flat. I also have a cashmere comb to de-pill the sleeves and down the sides where they rub. I've had one of their polo neck sweaters for years and it's my favourite on really cold days. In an 'emergency' when working away from home, I once de-pilled with a velcro hair roller!

I keep some older well-worn ones to wear under loose sweaters for extra cosy warmth.

Your sweater should last for years, but keep away from moths!

Oh Ginny that could be my post, even down to keeping old ones to use as thermal underwear!

I always use Woolite or any other delicate hand wash. Wash gently squeezing in hand hot water. Never rub or wring. Rinse and gently squeeze out excess water, then roll in a towel like making a Swiss roll! Dry flat away from direct heat.
Never use fabric softener as this matts the fibres. I keep my cashmere in a plastic box with a lid to keep the moths away.

Have some m and s ones they are not like the cashmere of old.......I wash in machine on wool cycle using woolite no conditioner..wash inside out ...dry flat usually on line or clothes horse....iron on gentle heat ....I use comb for piling every so often ....I store them in a suitcase in summer....some are 10 years old

I have quite a few cashmere sweaters. I use Persil silk and wool - in fact I'm here with some at my feet ready to be bunged in on the wool wash, I then dry flatfish on the airer. They always come up beautifully in fact I have some at least 10 years old still as good as new.

Oh bb snap!!!

Well, I never thought a thread on washing cashmere could be so funny. Blooming predictive text whitewave! Bit fishy if you ask me.

oh I've just read it!!!!!!!????????

I do the whole families "special" washing. I get fancy party dresses, cashmere jumpers (from one person) and everything in between. I swear by the Non Bio Delicate Liquid wash from Asda, which smells and feels lovely and has never let me down.

I am having a bit of a problem at the moment with a fancy party dress with feathers around the bottom. It has been dry cleaned and the stain did not come out. I have washed it using my trusty liquid and it has washed lovely, the stain has come out but the feathers won't seem to fluff back up. Any ideas would be much appreciated.

Birds seem to sort of comb their feathers to keep them in order. How about a warm hair dryer blow?

Cashmere and other woollies wash well, using Waitrose 'delicate' liquid detergent on the handwash setting on my washing machine. They dry flat on a mesh rack I found on Amazon. Learnt a hard lesson when I tumble-dried a cashmere cardi on the 'cool' setting. It looks good on my much slimmer DiL. I store cashmere and wool garments in ziplock bags.

I will second the warm hair dryer for feathers. After fishing I wash all my flies in warm water and then blow them dry with a hairdryer. It works especially well for downy things like duck, and marabou. I've never tied flies using cashmere but there's always a first time! ? In case anyone thinks this post is a wind up, it's not! (Except the cashmere bit!).

Thank you whitewave and Greyduster I will try a warm hair dryer later this afternoon when I get home. Seems quite a logical solution when you think about it. Fingers crossed as I think it is a VERY expensive dress.

For the cashmere: I've heard that you can also use shampoo, if you haven't got any special wool detergent.

For the feathers - too late now, but I wouldn't have washed it, certainly not after dry cleaning. Just snip off and replace the feathers that were dirty. Quite honestly though, does it matter? A fancy party dress will only be worn once or twice in a lifetime and even then for 90% of the time in a dark room. Shame it was so expensive, though.

Brilliant Folks thanks for the advice. At least I don't feel I have to buy a £20 bottle of cashmere shampoo now.

I have just finished swooshing/blasting the feathers with a hairdryer and they are as good as new whitewave and Greyduster you clever, clever ladies...... phew

This is no "fancy dress costume" JackyB (well not in the term I suspect you mean anyway). Looking at the label I suspect it was a fair few £100's and the nasty stain was not on the feathers it was right in the middle of the pale pink dress itself.

oooops I should have read your post twice JackyB apologies

I thought you meant that it was a "fancy dress" as in a "clown"..... oh you know what I mean

Just back on and reading white waves post.....great minds think alike!!!!!

gillybob try wetting the feathers then drying slowly with a diffuser hairdryer. It's how we dry the hens after a bath!!!!

Not cashmere but a new tee shirt which i flung some red wine over, accidentally of course. Rinsed immediately and washed but some stain is slightly visible. Any suggestions ladies/ gents? Thanks

Usually white wine or salt will take away stains....before washing... what colour and fabric is it?

I always handwash then machine spin Cashmere . Use a touch of liquid detergent to handwash and some conditioner in the rinse cycle . I was interested to read someone suggesting a cashmere comb- will def look out for one . I tend to buy cashmere sweaters from Ebay and only the older ones (in good condition) as the new ones you can buy in M&S and Tesco etc bare no resemblance to the older type in quality and of course they are very much cheaper !