How To Store Your Knitwear
As winter ends and the warmer months approach, now comes the time to switch out your winter coats and jackets for trans-seasonal knits such as dresses, tops, cardigans and skirts. During this transitional period, it’s essential to store your knitwear properly, whether putting them away for next year or bringing them out to wear right now. In this guide, we’re sharing our best tips on how to store your knitwear to maintain their quality and longevity.
How to Store Knitwear Away for Winter
To ensure you’re saying “see you later” and not “goodbye” to your favourite cosy winter knitwear pieces, we have compiled our top tips for storing knitwear that you won’t be wearing for a while:
1. To preserve the quality of your knitwear in storage it is important to clean your knitwear before to storing away. Refer to the easy steps that we have outlined in our Knitwear Care Guide for a hassle-free knitwear washing experience.
2. Let your knitwear pieces dry completely to avoid moisture impacting the quality of these items and other clothes stored in the same place.
3. Fold knitwear pieces and store in an air-tight container or space bag. This storage method is particularly important if you are storing these knitwear pieces in a damper area of your house as this will help prevent mildew (e.g., storage room or garage).
4. Alternatively, if you are storing your winter knitwear such as jumpers, sweaters, and cardigans in your room, you can use a fabric storage box. This will allow for the fabric of your clothes to breathe which helps prevent any unwanted odours.
5. Store by the specific type of material. As these materials have similar properties and it will prevent any moisture building up which could compromise the quality of each knitwear clothing piece.
6. Store similar colours together so when you change your seasonal wardrobe as autumn and winter kick in, it’s easier to find and match clothing pieces together.
7. Use moth protector to protect your clothes and extend their lifetime. We highly recommend including a Thurlby Anti-Moth Protector, which can be found in our Cable Melbourne stores.
8. Store your containers out of direct sunlight to protect the fibres of your knitwear and their colour from lightening up.
9. For extra delicate knitwear pieces, consider using tissue paper to separate different clothes from touching and potentially impacting the quality of these pieces.
How to Store Summer Knitwear
During spring and summer, there is still a cold breeze at night, especially if you live in Melbourne, so re-organising your wardrobe for the season is always a good idea. This makes finding items more accessible, helping you easily curate weather-friendly outfits. Here are Cable’s top tips for storing summer knitwear pieces in your wardrobe:
1. Determine if a particular knit requires folding or whether it should be hung. As a general rule, knitwear should be hung as most jumpers and cardigans are too heavy for hangers and will stretch out if hung up.
2. Heavy knits should be folded and stored on a shelf or drawer to ensure they keep their original shape.
3. Some lighter knitwear pieces, such as knitted tops and cardigans, can be hung if your drawer space is limited. We recommend using a felt-flocked or sturdy wooden hanger instead of a wire hanger, as this will preserve the shape of the shoulder and prevent snagging.
4. If your only option is to hang your knitwear, we recommend folding it over the bar at the bottom of the hanger, as this will prevent them from stretching. This is also a great way to hang knit dresses, as you can store them with your other dresses.
5. When storing your spring and summer knitwear in your closet, consider placing these light sweaters next to your favourite capsule pieces. This will inspire you to create more outfits, helping you get more use out of your knitwear in the warmer months.
Key Tips for Storing Knitwear
Always ensure your knitwear is clean and dry before packing them away for the season.
Keep your knitwear away from direct sunlight to avoid discolouration.
For extra protection from moths, use a moth repellent and store your knitwear in a sealed container.
Where possible, fold your knitwear instead of hanging. This is especially important for heavier knits such as jumpers to prevent them from stretching.
If drawer space is limited, fold your knits over the bar at the bottom of your hanger.
Consider hanging lighter knitwear pieces like knit tops on a felt-flocked or sturdy wooden hanger.
If you’re looking to embrace new knitwear colours and breathable materials, shop our range of knits here.