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Smelly sweaters

fatherseanfan

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I followed the advice of past threads and washed my wool sweaters by hand and did the "towel wrap" method for drying. I guess I didn't do something right, because the sweaters now reek! They smell like a dank basement, it's really really bad. What can I do get rid of this smell?
 

fatherseanfan

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Sorry, maybe I wasn't clear in the first post. The sweaters are totally dry, and they still smell like a wet basement.
 

hotspur

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if you let something dry slowly in a dark somewhat moist place it will likely smell pretty dank. I made this mistake before, your best option is to rewash it, and then either hang it up to dry, or maybe even put it outside if the weather is good.
 

bengal-stripe

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The towel-wrap is not for drying, but to squeeze out excessive moisture.

Wash the item and squeeze out the moisture by hand (do not wring): lay damp sweater on a towel, roll sweater and towel to a sausage and bash hard with your fists. This transfers moisture from the sweater into the towel.

Unwrap, pull sweater into shape, lay onto another dry towel and let it dry flat, exposed to the fresh air; damp towel to dry separately away from the sweater. Do not attempt to dry inside the damp towel. (Neither should a damp sweater be line-dried. It would pull the sweater all out of shape.)
 

alflauren

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Bed, Bath and Beyond has a "sweater dryer," which is just a short four-legged frame with nylon netting pulled across it. Lets the sweater dry from both sides. Never had a problem.
 

Arethusa

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Yeah, ideally, you would want to do the sweater burrito and then stick it into a sweater drying rack. They're fairly cheap, and if you wear sweaters, a hell of a lot cheaper than dry cleaning bills.

Goes without saying that if you live in a cool, moist environment, you're going to have a hell of a time getting this to work.
 

j

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Originally Posted by Arethusa
Yeah, ideally, you would want to do the sweater burrito and then stick it into a sweater drying rack. They're fairly cheap, and if you wear sweaters, a hell of a lot cheaper than dry cleaning bills. Goes without saying that if you live in a cool, moist environment, you're going to have a hell of a time getting this to work.
A fan blowing across it can help in that situation.
 

mensimageconsultant

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No! Please don't dry in the sun. It can fade the colors.

The smell probably was caused by the towel. Put a damp towel in a bag for a few days, and you will smell for yourself.
 

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