Last Updated: April 12, 2021
Avoid a trip to the dry cleaner and get your cashmere feeling fresh and luxurious from home. Here’s how to take care of your favorite cashmere pieces.
Your favorite cashmere sweater looking shabby instead of luxurious? Instead of heading to the dry cleaner, follow our guide for safely washing and drying cashmere at home.
Comfort meets luxury in cashmere. A well-made cashmere sweater can quickly — and rightfully — become a wardrobe favorite. But cashmere upkeep feels like another story altogether. From finicky care instructions to stretches and holes, that perfect sweater can become a headache in no time.
With cashmere especially, your first thought may be to take it to the dry cleaner. However, like much of your wardrobe, it turns out cashmere can be washed easily at home. We’ll review the ins and outs of cashmere care and help put cashmere back on top for wearability.
Yes! We always recommend checking the care tag on any fabric before washing, but most cashmere garments can be washed at home.
You can handwash or machine-wash your cashmere items, depending on your needs. We’ve outlined the steps for doing both forms of washing below. You’re welcome!
The best way to wash any cashmere garment is the old-fashioned way: by hand. Handwashing cashmere is simple, and it only requires a few tools and tricks.
Fill your clean basin with room-temperature water. Add your preferred cleaning solution — a specialty cashmere cleaner or something very gentle, like unscented natural detergent or baby shampoo. Swish the water around with your hands to get the bath nice and sudsy.
Soak the garment for 10 minutes. Very gently agitate the cashmere piece. If it’s in a dire need of cleaning, you can also gently press your cashmere against the bottom of the basin for extra absorption.
Drain the basin, and refill it with cool water. Gently agitate — swish, swish, swish. Drain the water, and fill it back up. Swish, swish, swish. Repeat until the water runs clear and the cashmere is free of detergent.
Grove Tip
During the washing and drying process, it may be tempting to twist or wring your garment, like you would a towel. Avoid the temptation! Wringing and twisting can stretch cashmere fibers, quickly leading to a worn-out, lumpy, oversized garment.
Only certain cashmere garments can be machine-washed. Check your garment’s care tag for more information on whether it can be tossed in the machine. If it can, here’s how to do it properly.
Turn your cashmere garments inside out. Place them flat inside a mesh laundry bag to prevent them from getting twisted, snagged, or hog-tied.
Anything with chemical additives, such as scents, fabric softeners, or dyes can damage the natural cashmere fibers. The gentler, the better.
Set your front loading washing machine to a cool, gentle cycle. Avoid top-loading machines — the central agitator is a nightmare for delicates like cashmere, even when they’re in a bag.
Fabrics like cashmere and wool, while delicate, are more resistant to dirt, dust, and sweat than synthetic fabrics. If you only wear that cozy cashmere sweater a handful of times throughout the chilly season, wash it once or twice across the entire season. If you wear your cashmere daily, wash it once every week or so.
Daily upkeep, like spot-treating stains, will help stave off the need for a full wash, and it’ll keep your cashmere looking fresh and bright.
Similar to most wool, cashmere should never, ever be placed in the dryer. The heat and agitation of any machine dryer causes cashmere to shrink terribly.
With cashmere, you are going to want to stick to air drying. While it takes some time, air drying keeps your cashmere shapely and pristine.
Lay the cashmere garment flat on top of a dry towel. Line up the seams and smooth wrinkles. Drying it flat will help it maintain its shape and fit.
Start with the end facing you, and roll the towel and cashmere up together, like you would a sleeping bag, gently squeezing, so the towel will absorb excess moisture from your garment.
Return the cashmere to a lay-flat position on a new dry towel. It may take up to eight hours for your cashmere to air dry. Turn it over after a few hours to help it dry faster.
Treating stains as they occur is one of the best ways to keep your cashmere chic and keep your schedule free of a full-on cashmere washing session.
If a stain occurs:
Once the suds are out, lay the garment flat to dry.
If you’re dealing with a long-dried stain, it's best to pre-treat the area, then handwash or machine wash the garment.
There are a number of little ways to ensure your favorite cashmere sweater lives a long and healthy life, retaining its shape and style even as it becomes vintage.
Hanging your cashmere with the rest of your clothes is a surefire way to draw the ire of gravity and turn your favorite cashmere sweater into a lanky, stretched out mess. It's best to fold and store cashmere flat in a dresser or on a shelf.
Stored, clean cashmere is unappealing to critters searching for their next meal. Moths and other bugs are attracted to lingering smells like sweat, deodorant, and perfumes. To prevent surprise closet guests, always wash your cashmere before putting it away for the season.
Plastic clothing bags seal in moisture, creating the perfect environment for mildew and sweater-stink. Fabric bags provide natural airflow, creating an airy, but protective, environment for garment storage.
Razors and scissors may be good for grooming human hair, but they’re not great for cashmere. Both run the risk of yanking more than just pills, taking sturdy pieces of the garment with them during the depilling process. Instead, use a lint brush or sweater stone. Both simply scoop off existing pills without grabbing onto or cutting into the main cashmere weave.
While beautiful, jewelry rubs against your clothes constantly throughout the day. For cashmere, that means guaranteed pills, as the friction created by your jewelry will catch, snag, and irritate the natural cashmere fibres. In particular, avoid wearing cashmere and jewelry made with rough-cut stones or small chains.
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