The weather might be getting chillier, but it doesn’t mean it’s time to hang up your NUMI just yet. One of our favorite clothing items to pair our NUMIs with is our chunky knit sweaters.  You can easily throw a sweater or loose cardigan over your NUMI, a pair of jeans, and you have a perfect fall outfit.

However, I don’t know about you but washing those knit sweaters can be more difficult than we like. We’ve gathered a few our four favorite tips and tricks to keeping your sweaters fresh and last longer and even how to store them at the end of the season.

 How Often Do You Need to Wash Your Sweaters?

A good rule of thumb is to wash your sweater around every four wears, unless, you of course spill something all the way down it, or forgot to layer your NUMI and sweat a lot throughout the day. (With the help of your NUMI, your sweater should be protected from sweat and last you four wears!) Who What Wear recommends hand washing your knits in a specially designed cleanser like Soak Wash, or The Laundress Wool & Cashmere Shampoo. This is to prevent the wool from breaking and fraying as much, helping your favourite sweater keep its shape and colour just how you bought it.

How Do You Fold a Sweater?

Did you know that over time hanging your sweaters improperly on a hanger will stretch out the fabric, and totally distort the shape of the sweater? The Huffington Post has a solution to this, simply fold the sweater over the hanger and drape the sleeves across the top.

If you have the shelf space, the best thing for your sweaters is to fold them. Do this loosely, as you don’t want to crease the fabric. Simply store like colours with one another to prevent dark knits from bleeding onto the lighter knits. Keep them in a closet or drawer, and out of direct sunlight to keep the colours looking their best!

How Do You Get Wrinkles Out of Sweaters?

If you have ever tried to steam a wool sweater with a hot steamer, you know that smell is not something you want to ever smell again, and putting an iron directly on the knit is out of the question unless you want a burn on your favourite knit. But not to worry, there is a way to get wrinkles out of your knits without either of these problems.

1. Shower with it: When you hop in the shower, hang the sweater in the bathroom or on the curtain rod to steam it out without the close heat.
2. Layer it and Iron: You can iron your knits, just remember to ALWAYS place a tea towel or hand towel between your sweater and the iron.

Can You Stretch a Sweater that’s Shrunk?

Lucky for you, the answer is Yes! The secret to stretching out a shrunken sweater is baby shampoo! Gentle baby shampoo like Johnson & Johnson will do the trick. Fill your sink with lukewarm water, add a cap full of shampoo and let your sweater soak for at least ten minutes (about 10 to 30 minutes should do the trick). Drain the water and lay the sweater on a flat surface, on top of a towel. Now that the fibers have softened and soaked gently stretch the sweater. Lay another clean dry towel on top to absorb the water, and keep everything flat until the sweater is completely dry.

Here’s some more of our favorite knit sweaters for fall!