I have a number of really nice sweaters that were ribbed and nice and tight when I first bought them. Since washing them in cold water and air drying them (I thought I was being safe), they are still all losing their tightness. They now are looking like bell-bottom t-shirts. I spent a lot of money on some of these sweaters and would love to restore the tightness that they came with.

Does anyone now how to prevent and restore any sweater from being loosened? I thought I was doing all of the right things, but clearly not.

THANKS

There are two things I know of. Try putting in the dryer, but only at the lowest temperature setting and keep an eye on them. If you take them out when they are still a bit damp (after 15 minutes or so depending on the dryer) and air dry them the rest of the way. Make sure when you do air dry them that they are laying flat and not hanging. Hopefully that helps!

Depends on what the sweaters are made of. Most likely, they're doomed already. In the future, I'd dry-clean or wash in cold on super gentle cycle, take them out, re-shape them (button if there are buttons), and lay them flat to dry in a spot that gets a lot of fresh air, but not direct sunlight. I'd personally never put a sweater in the dryer unless it was air-dry only, NO heat, and even then, only cotton, cotton/ramie.

Sweaters built with a lot of structure are an oxymoron, because a woman's body has enough structure on its own! But I can't blame you, ribbed sweaters are comfy, stylish and look great. I agree with aschap and velvetjones, flat drying is the best way to go. Reshape them and flat dry them after a gentle cycle; flat drying works best because when sweaters are put to air dry on a hanger, they sag at their own weight and it stretches the fibers.