The usual rule of thumb, when blocking blouses and sweaters, press all pieces on the wrong side very lightly with a steam iron or with a dry iron over a damp cloth, making sure to stretch any part of the garment/item as specified by your tape measure and carefully "rolling" out the side and top seam edges.
Never press any ribbing unless the ribbing is used specifically as trim.
The usual procedure is that if an article is soiled, have it cleaned or wash carefully in tepid water with any good mild soap.
I usually use soap specially made for knits and wash my items in the delicate cycle in my washer.
Make sure to rinse all the articles thoroughly in water of the same temperature.
Never leave any soap in the article, even if there are suggestions printed on the label of the soap you are using.
If soap is left in your article, this same knitted article may appear a little fluffier for a while, but after a while that soap can do irreparable damage to your item.
If you are hand washing your items, never rub the garment.
Squeeze the suds through and through until all the soil has been removed.
If the knitted article is very soiled, it may be preferable to wash the item two or three times rather than just using more soap just once.
Washing your home knitted item more than once usually takes care of the heavy soil build-up in the home knitted garment.
Never hold the garment up while it is wet, as the weight of the water will stretch it out of shape.
Press out as much water as possible and then lay the garment in a large Turkish towel, folding the towel around the home knitted garment.
Wring the towel hard.
Wringing the towel hard will not harm the garment as you are wringing the towel, not the cherished garment.
Put the garment on a dry towel on a flat surface; pat out to shape, using a tape measure to ensure a proper fit.
Also, never stick pins into the edges of your knitting.
It you must fasten it down, use absolutely rust-proof long-pointed thumbtacks pressed through a strip of cotton tape or heavy cloth.
To avoid that "creased-in" look at the seams and in the sleeves, use lots of tissue paper, rolled and slightly crushed, and put it down the side seams, in the sleeves, and at the shoulder seams.
Press tacks inside of paper at the sides.
Always remember that when you are washing woolens, it is the moisture left in the wool after washing that causes the most shrinkage.
Also keep in mind that when washing articles that have been made in a garter stitch, they will stretch quite a bit because of the nature of the stitch.
You will need to push them into shape, rather than pat them to shape them.
If you are washing and blocking a cardigan, baste the front closing together on both edges with yarn (never with thread).
(Thread is apt to cut wool yarn).
As per instructions on the label of the garment, or in the instructions you used when you home knitted the garment, wash and block as directed.
When dry, the front edges will be the same length and will not stretch out of shape.
While moisture does cause most of the shrinkage in a home knitted garment, it is also true that stretching a garment too much or too often while it is damp will also cause eventual shrinkage.
Before you wash any home knitted article, run a length of yarn, doubled, into the side seam or sleeve seam.
Later on, if repairs are needed, you can remove and use this yarn, which will be just the same shade as the knitted article itself.
Do you have any cardigans or other home knitted items that are stretched out of shape because you didn't know the proper way of laundering and blocking them?
Never press any ribbing unless the ribbing is used specifically as trim.
The usual procedure is that if an article is soiled, have it cleaned or wash carefully in tepid water with any good mild soap.
I usually use soap specially made for knits and wash my items in the delicate cycle in my washer.
Make sure to rinse all the articles thoroughly in water of the same temperature.
Never leave any soap in the article, even if there are suggestions printed on the label of the soap you are using.
If soap is left in your article, this same knitted article may appear a little fluffier for a while, but after a while that soap can do irreparable damage to your item.
If you are hand washing your items, never rub the garment.
Squeeze the suds through and through until all the soil has been removed.
If the knitted article is very soiled, it may be preferable to wash the item two or three times rather than just using more soap just once.
Washing your home knitted item more than once usually takes care of the heavy soil build-up in the home knitted garment.
Never hold the garment up while it is wet, as the weight of the water will stretch it out of shape.
Press out as much water as possible and then lay the garment in a large Turkish towel, folding the towel around the home knitted garment.
Wring the towel hard.
Wringing the towel hard will not harm the garment as you are wringing the towel, not the cherished garment.
Put the garment on a dry towel on a flat surface; pat out to shape, using a tape measure to ensure a proper fit.
Also, never stick pins into the edges of your knitting.
It you must fasten it down, use absolutely rust-proof long-pointed thumbtacks pressed through a strip of cotton tape or heavy cloth.
To avoid that "creased-in" look at the seams and in the sleeves, use lots of tissue paper, rolled and slightly crushed, and put it down the side seams, in the sleeves, and at the shoulder seams.
Press tacks inside of paper at the sides.
Always remember that when you are washing woolens, it is the moisture left in the wool after washing that causes the most shrinkage.
Also keep in mind that when washing articles that have been made in a garter stitch, they will stretch quite a bit because of the nature of the stitch.
You will need to push them into shape, rather than pat them to shape them.
If you are washing and blocking a cardigan, baste the front closing together on both edges with yarn (never with thread).
(Thread is apt to cut wool yarn).
As per instructions on the label of the garment, or in the instructions you used when you home knitted the garment, wash and block as directed.
When dry, the front edges will be the same length and will not stretch out of shape.
While moisture does cause most of the shrinkage in a home knitted garment, it is also true that stretching a garment too much or too often while it is damp will also cause eventual shrinkage.
Before you wash any home knitted article, run a length of yarn, doubled, into the side seam or sleeve seam.
Later on, if repairs are needed, you can remove and use this yarn, which will be just the same shade as the knitted article itself.
Do you have any cardigans or other home knitted items that are stretched out of shape because you didn't know the proper way of laundering and blocking them?