Seasonal change? How to store cashmere

Cashmere is a fabric that’s perfect for wearing on any occasion and throughout the year. It may seem incredible, but it’s simply a fact, reality. It’s versatile, durable, beautiful, softer than any other material, and capable of pairing perfectly with any other fabric, from silk to viscose, cotton, and bamboo.

To maintain its qualities over time, cashmere needs to be stored properly. This is especially important during seasonal changes when transitioning from the coldest period of the year to the warmer months, when cashmere is used considerably less.

The reason is simple: it’s a yarn that can warm you up when temperatures get quite cold and protect from humidity; it’s not a cooling fabric like linen, for example, and therefore isn’t suitable for warmer months when temperatures start to rise. Keep a couple of pieces handy in your closet: you never know nowadays, with unprecedented changes due to climate change. Also, a sweater or pants in cashmere might come in handy for a mountain vacation, where temperatures can fluctuate significantly.

The Starting Point: Checking the Condition of Garments

The steps for storing cashmere when transitioning from winter to spring-summer are simple habits that everyone can manage, not difficult to implement: small gestures that can make a difference and are like a form of pampering for cashmere, similar, at least in concept, to what it gives us.

Therefore, the first thing to do when changing seasons is to ensure that the garments are in perfect condition. For cashmere items, it’s necessary to make sure they’re clean, free not only from possible stains but also from any odors due to perspiration.

It’s useful to check the integrity of all yarn points and verify the so-called pilling. This is a phenomenon where layers of fuzz or wool form, typical of woolen fabrics. Its formation is absolutely normal, so there’s no need to worry when it occurs, even in high-quality garments like those in 100% cashmere from 1stAmerican. The important thing is to keep it under control, like all other factors we’ve mentioned, to ensure garments are stored in the seasonal wardrobe properly and impeccably.

Performing seasonal changes optimally can bring countless benefits, both in terms of resistance and durability of each garment and fabric, but also in terms of practicality. You’ll have winter items ready to go with just the need for airing out. Air is, in fact, an element that cashmere really likes, a factor not to be underestimated.

Materials and Procedures Needed for Storing Cashmere

We’ve seen how the perfect storage of a cashmere garment isn’t a secondary aspect, but rather the ideal balance to what is necessarily the first step: choosing the fabric and that specific item for its beauty and quality.

This is even more important if the cashmere will stay in the closet for quite a while, when the climate is particularly warm, meaning three months or more. This happens in many places across Italy, from big cities like Milan or Rome to smaller towns throughout the country, where temperatures can reach really high peaks.

Therefore, we offer you a brief list, so you can always have a practical guide available, regarding the procedures to follow and materials needed.

The procedures to follow for storing cashmere during seasonal changes are:

1. Washing.
2. Drying.
3. Optional ironing (if the previous two steps are done properly, it’s often not necessary).
4. Folding.
5. Storage.

You can choose not to perform all steps, but only some, evaluating each case individually. Ironing or washing, for example, aren’t always essential.

For carrying out the operations we’ve listed, the materials you need to have available are:

• Gentle soap, suitable for cashmere yarns.
• Cotton towels. It’s essential that they’re not only dry but also clean.
• Perfectly functioning iron. When the iron isn’t in optimal condition, it can even damage garments. The most common issue is staining them.
• Storage bags for garments.
• Tissue paper.
• Moth-proofing products. There are several 100% natural options available in different scents, which can even be made at home as pleasant hobby activities.

Now let’s look at each operation in detail!

1) Washing Cashmere

We’ve checked the cashmere, but we really want to store it in the closet at its best, giving it a refresh and making it even cleaner. As we mentioned, 1stAmerican provides all the necessary information to treat cashmere properly, so you can wash it appropriately. The guidelines we provide are always valid and general, but for extra security, you can consult the specific ones, indicating them, in case of a gift, to the recipient, for example by printing them.

Therefore, cashmere isn’t afraid of contact with water, quite the opposite: under certain conditions, or rather, its conditions, it finds it pleasant. It’s a particularly lively and vital fabric that has a sort of soul, if you will: that’s why it’s comfortable with water, the primordial element. This is provided that its needs are respected, all in the name of delicacy and regality, characteristic elements of cashmere.

It’s preferable to wash cashmere garments by hand or dry clean them, even better if inside out. These procedures prevent any impacts, which are distinctive of machine washing. It’s better to place cashmere in a basin with plenty of water along with a specific gentle detergent for wool, to ensure it has all the necessary space. Also, it’s preferable to soak it for less than five minutes and not longer. You can remove the water by gently rolling up the garment or patting it with a towel to facilitate drying.

This is the procedure for properly washing cashmere when necessary for seasonal changes. Because yes, if you haven’t used your sweater or cashmere pants for a while, and they’re perfectly clean, simply airing them out might be enough. The first thing to do is always the same: evaluate the condition of the fabric at the start, which is why each phase can be considered independent.

2) Drying

You’ve decided to wash your beautiful 1stAmerican cashmere sweater before storing it in the closet. Excellent idea, of course. As long as you execute the second step properly: drying. We have good news: if you follow the steps correctly, you can very likely, actually most likely, avoid the tedious next operation: ironing.

Let’s start with an error to avoid: cashmere should never be put in the dryer. Why? It’s a system that affects its durability over time, nullifying all efforts to preserve it properly.

Cashmere should always be air-dried. The best way is to lay it flat on cotton cloths, such as towels, which must be, indeed, it’s essential that they are in perfect condition both in terms of dryness and cleanliness, so they can be properly in contact with the cashmere.

Cashmere should be laid out away from direct heat sources, such as lights or heating (which should be off during this period anyway). It doesn’t like darkness, but neither does it like intense heat. The right middle ground. Lying flat, it’s in the best condition to dry in perfect harmony. You’ll be surprised at how little time it takes to dry. Cashmere can be a special friend and, when well-treated, even low-maintenance.

3) Ironing (Only if Really Necessary)

If you’ve washed and even more so dried the cashmere properly, you shouldn’t need to iron the garments, a solution that you can still implement later, with the arrival of the new autumn-winter season.

The precautions for ironing cashmere are therefore the same as for more delicate garments, not unlike those in silk. It’s necessary to iron the garment inside out, even better if you put a cloth between the fabric and the iron that is, just like those used for drying, perfectly clean and dry.

Adjust the temperature according to the delicate program available on your iron, making sure in any case that it’s low. Use your hands to help, especially in crucial points such as the collar, sleeves, and hem.

4) Folding

Before folding cashmere garments, it’s essential to make sure the garments are perfectly dry, even after the ironing procedure, which can often leave moisture residues or even water stagnation. You can, to be sure, guess what: let them air out.

The optimal way to fold a cashmere garment is to make a first fold lengthwise, so as to get the arms well stretched out. This way you avoid producing unpleasant little folds, which can compromise the previous phases, including ironing.

Another good habit is to insert tissue paper between one inner fold and another. A precaution that prevents any external moisture from damaging the fabric. A small gesture that should not be underestimated at all.

5) Storage in the Closet

Finally, the garment is ready to be perfectly stored in the closet, where it can stay for up to three months, as we mentioned. However, it will always be available in perfect condition if needed, that is, if you decide to go on vacation to places where it’s cold, like the mountains, for instance. Cashmere can be in your suitcase in a practical, effective, and even silent way, we could say, since it takes up very little space, guaranteeing extra thermal security.

For storage in closets during seasonal changes, we suggest you have a closed bag in which to properly insert the folded garments. It’s preferable to use a non-airtight bag, so as to allow the best transpiration of cashmere, a fabric that loves to be in the air, as you will have memorized by now, just like the animal from which it’s made: the hircus goat. The solution is to have one bag for each garment, of course, in order to optimize the operations carried out previously, as well as the transpiration of the fabric.

The Importance of the Right Moth-Proofing Product for Cashmere Storage

Since cashmere is a yarn, it’s better to add moth-proofing products in the closet or drawers where the garment is stored. Moths are animals, also known as clothes moths, that belong to the Tineidae family and are lepidopterans. Their larvae are dangerous because they feed on fabrics such as silk, cotton, and wool, including cashmere. They also love other types of substances containing keratin.

The most effective moth-proofing products are quite inexpensive; they are available commercially or can be made DIY, being natural. There are several effective solutions, with varied scents that are perfectly compatible with cashmere. A simple, quick, and effective option is to make sachets with cotton balls soaked in essential oils based on bay leaf, patchouli, orange, or cinnamon; these should be closed, just like cashmere, in breathable bags.

Another solution is to create sachets, but with sprigs of lavender, rosemary, cedar, or cloves, which are also perfect for repelling moths. In this case too, it’s of primary importance that the sachets are breathable and the ingredients are wrapped, so as not to produce unpleasant inconveniences in contact with the fabrics. The risk, in fact, is that of causing unpleasant stains that are anything but simple to remove and capable of causing even irreparable damage. The moth-proofing sachets last about two or three months: the time, in fact, of the seasonal change.

Concluding Note

The seasonal change represents an operation often considered routine, habitual, but which should not be taken lightly at all. This is especially true for the prevention of possible states of deterioration of garments, as demonstrated by the attention that needs to be paid to moths. Each phase is not difficult to execute, but it has particular peculiarities, even more so in the case of a precious material like cashmere. A special fabric that deserves a seasonal change to match.