How to wash a sweatshirt while making it stay new for a long time

One of the worst things that happens to your lovely sweatshirt or hoodie is the appearance of those pills: too many wrinkles, fading colors, and the last and worst: losing its softness. 

As sweatshirts are a chic and common outwear outfit, we all want them to last longer and stay as new as they are. 

Though fabrics grow old over time, the good news is that if you’re caring for that hoodie of yours properly, it’ll last a long time with you while being in excellent condition. 

So in this blog, we aren’t just going to talk about how to wash hoodies and sweatshirts, but more care tips that’ll help you make it last for years. 

Have multiple sweatshirts

Well, this one requires a little more investment. You know that washing a fabric over and over again means you’re decreasing its life, and the same is for sweatshirts and hoodies; you’ll start to get those pills on them. 

And chances are, the beautiful, bright color of them will fade faster. 

That’s why if you invest in multiple sweatshirts or hoodies, you can wear different sweatshirts each time, which will decrease the need to wash them every week. 

Washing sweatshirts in a machine

If you can hand wash your sweatshirt or hoodie, that’s the best thing because handwashing is more gentle than the heavy spins of a washing machine. 

On top of that, when you wash it together with other clothes, the color can fade from it. 

Plus, handwashing will cause fewer wrinkles, which means you may not have to iron it in most cases. 

But still, if you just like washing machines, there’s a way to carefully wash them. 

Turn it inside out

One of the best tricks experts suggest (this is crucial) is to just turn your hoodie or sweatshirt inside out. This way the outer layer of your hoodie will stay safe. 

The outer surface won’t be affected, and there’s no issue if the inner layer gets pills or wrinkles. 

NEVER wash it in hot water 

Most sweatshirts are cotton-made entirely. And hot water is an enemy to it. Here’s why: because the fibers inside your sweatshirt will break easily with the hot water. 

That’s when the pills (the balls of threads) on your sweatshirt or hoodie will start to appear sooner than you would have expected. And pills are the sign of heavy wear and tear. 

Plus, this could cause shrinkage and a lot of wrinkles, which means you’ll have to iron again. And ironing is another not-good thing for your sweatshirt. 

So be sure to wash hoodies and sweatshirts in the cold water. 

• There’ll be fewer or no wrinkles on your sweatshirt
• It’s not as harsh as hot water and won’t break the fibers inside it
• Your sweatshirt’s colors will not fade

Keep the washing machine in a delicate cycle

Wash your sweatshirts at full speed and watch them get worn out faster, and you don't want that! Expert detergents don’t recommend fast washing cycles. 

The faster you wash, the more it’s cruel to your lovely sweatshirt. The fibers will break faster, and the damage will be significant over a shorter period of time. 

Sure, the damage won’t be visible immediately, but soon, you’ll see the difference. 

It’s like you’ll be beating it up to become worn out faster than its normal lifespan. 

Faster cycles won’t wash your sweatshirts properly either

Washing in faster cycles isn’t good for cleaning hoodies either. There’ll be chances of stains and some white spots on your hoodie because of it. 

On top of that, the leftovers of detergent might stay stuck into your sweatshirt. 

This can cause irritation and make your skin irritate too while wearing it!

The use of detergent

Now, the detergent is another thing you should be extra careful about. You must use a gentle detergent that is specially designed to not harm the fabric. 

Because the one with strong chemicals will lead to the same disasters that you fear: losing softness, colors, wrinkles, and lifespan damage.

Use laundry bags if you can 

So if you can’t somehow have time to handwash your sweatshirt, then laundry is something you must invest in. 

It’s an extra layer of protection, so your sweatshirt will stay protected from the stretching, snagging, or color damage when washing with other clothes. 

You’ll get relief from the excessive long-term damage to your sweatshirt. 

Because this bag lets the water penetrate inside it due to the mesh fabric but doesn’t let the sweatshirt get harmed from becoming unsoft. 

• Your sweatshirt won’t get many or no wrinkles at all (especially washing in cold water).
• You might not have to iron it (mostly).
• It’ll stay soft for a long time. 
• The long-term damage will be significantly less, or there won’t be any damage.

More longevity with handwashing 

Washing sweatshirts with hands will of course need some effort. But it’s the only way you can know that you’re caring for your sweatshirt the best you can. 

• You’ll be intentionally more gentle while washing it to prevent wrinkles, unlike washing machine
• You can remove stains more effectively
• You can save your hoodie or sweatshirt from accidentally shrinking in the washing machine

Plus, if your sweatshirt has delicate material or is not strong, you can be more careful to save it from some harm (you don’t control this in the washing machine). 

Handwashing your sweatshirt/hoodie

Handwashing is so simple. All you need is a tub with cold water and to drown your hoodie in it and soak it. 

Then pour that mild detergent on water to make it soapy. 

Then move and rinse the hoodie in the tub, just like a washing machine spins it, but you have to do it gently for better wash care.

Tip: If your hoodie isn’t that dirty, you can also manually rub the soap on the dirt spots to clean it. It's an even safer way to wash it. 

Drying part

Using any steamer or dryer is something your hoodie’s fabric doesn't like. There are chances of shrinking in it. 

The best way people dry it after handwashing is by wrapping it in a towel and leaving it to dry in the air. 

Harmful things you can do to your sweatshirt

Now here are the things you must NOT do when you’re washing your sweatshirt. 

Washing them together with heavy clothes

If you’re throwing heavy jeans and other types of heavy garments with your sweatshirt, then you’re doing some serious harm to it. 

Sweatshirts and hoodies are delicate, and when you wash them together with those jeans or other heavy garments, they’ll be snagged and scratched, and there’ll be high dangers of losing colors and the softness. 

And the wrinkles? You can guess it yourself. While getting spinned together with heavy garments, your sweatshirts will get a ton of wrinkles!

Do not wash them every day!

We can’t avoid washing the clothes, no matter how much we try. But washing it daily means you’re making it older. 

Keep your sweatshirt clean and protect it from stains while wearing it so you’ll not create a need to wash it repeatedly. 

Ironing your sweatshirt (excessively)

While you may not notice the signs faster, iron makes the fibers inside your sweatshirt weak. 

This causes a lot of damage to it in the long term. Firstly, your sweatshirt gets less and less soft over time. 

Second, it’ll be more vulnerable to the holes and tearing (won’t be as strong as before). Again, you won’t notice it sooner, but it’ll happen over time. 

But just like washing, you can’t avoid ironing because wrinkles appear after all. 

Instead, you should use a steamer. It isn’t as hard as iron. It’ll gently press your clothes without doing the long-term damage.

How to shrink a hoodie or sweatshirt? 

Well, the unusually good thing about a hoodie is that it can shrink. It happens due to the heat given to it. 

The fibers become stiffer and tighter. This results in it shrinking. 

Now, if you’ve got a hoodie in a big size or you just want to make it more fit, you can do it fortunately. 

Please keep in mind that shrinking a hoodie means you’ll have to expose it to the high heat. Which means it will weaken its fibers a little or more. 

And overheating means more shrinking than you want, so you have to be careful with it.  

Shrinking hoodies or sweatshirts is good if you want a small size adjustment. You just can’t shrink your hoodie excessively. It’s better to get a new one with the size you want in that case. 

Wash the hoodie in hot water 

Yes, for this process, you’ll have to wash your sweatshirt in hot water. First, keep the temperature low and slowly increase it. Then wash it for about 5 minutes. 

The timeframe also depends; if your hoodie is made of cotton, it shrinks more effectively, so 5 minutes is ideal for it. 

But synthetic fibers are more stubborn; you should then wash for up to 10 minutes. 

The more shrinking you want, the more you should increase the heat. 

How to make a sweatshirt bigger

There’s a lot of flexibility with sweatshirts and hoodies. Just like you can shrink a hoodie, luckily you can even make it stretch a little to increase the size as well. 

Cold water & steaming techniques

You can increase the size of the hoodie with two easy methods. 

• Wet it with cold water in a tub
• Hang it somewhere where you can turn it around and stretch it easily or lay it on a floor 

Now you’ll need to forcefully stretch all sides of your hoodie until you feel like you’ve got the size you want. 

The second method is with iron or the steamer. 

• Steam your hoodie from all sides
• Hang it again somewhere.

Then do the same; just keep pulling it from the sides, both from top and bottom. 

Removing the pills from your sweatshirt/hoodie

Lastly, if your sweatshirt has gotten those pesky and annoying pills. Thankfully, you can remove them. 

But if you keep following the best care practices we talked about, your sweatshirts won’t get these pills for a long time. 

Fabric shavers

There are fabric shavers available there for removing pills very easily. If you have that, then you already know how to easily remove them. Just gently spread the machine over your sweatshirt. 

Other techniques 

But if you don’t have it, No worries; nail cutters and shaving machines can also do the job. 

• Lay down your sweatshirt 
• Use the shaving machine gently on it
• Or cut those pill balls with a nail cutter. 

Remember, you could accidentally tear or damage your hoodie, so be extra careful with it. 

Simple ways on how to fold hoodies

Now you may think folding isn’t important. It actually is. 

Because if you don’t have a proper hanger and cupboard and you leave your clothes here and there, your sweatshirt is sure to get a mouthful of wrinkles and dirt. 

That means you’ll have to wash it again and again. And washing it multiple times a week means a greater decrease in the lifetime. 

Simple fold or roll

If you keep the clothes in a corner or a cupboard without a hanger: 

• Fold the hood from top to bottom. 
• Fold the sleeves to the sides 
• Then simultaneously fold the entire hoodie. 

Or you can just roll the hoodie from top, which is more easy.