Care · 2 June 2026 · 4 min read
How to Care for Merino
Merino is one of the most forgiving fibres you can own — naturally odour-resistant, temperature-regulating and quietly self-cleaning. Most damage to merino knitwear is done in the name of caring for it. Here is the short, honest guide.
Words by N&N Editorial
The first thing to know about merino is that it rarely needs washing. Wool fibres have a natural coating that resists odour and dirt, which is why you can wear a merino jumper a dozen times between washes where a cotton sweat would manage two or three. Airing is the merino owner’s secret weapon: hang it somewhere ventilated overnight and it will usually come back fresh.
Every wash, however gentle, costs a knit a little of its life. So the single best care instruction we can give you is the least glamorous one: wash less.
When you do wash
Cold water, wool cycle, wool detergent. The wool cycle matters more than people think — it is not just a temperature setting but a movement setting, with a slower drum and no sudden agitation. Heat and friction together are what felt wool, shrinking it irreversibly by locking the fibre scales together.
Use a proper wool detergent. Standard biological detergents contain enzymes designed to break down protein stains — and wool is protein. They will literally digest your jumper, slowly, wash by wash.
- Turn the garment inside out and close any buttons
- 30°C or below, wool cycle, low spin
- Wool detergent only — never biological, never fabric softener
- Never tumble dry, even on low
Drying and storing
Dry flat, always. A wet knit on a hanger will grow shoulders you cannot un-grow. Lay it on a towel, ease it back into shape — this takes ten seconds and is the closest thing to blocking most of us ever need — and let it dry away from radiators and direct sun.
Store knitwear folded, never hung, and store it clean at the end of the season: moths are drawn to the traces we leave, not the wool itself. A cedar block is a pleasant deterrent; a sealed cotton bag over summer is a certain one.
“A wet knit on a hanger will grow shoulders you cannot un-grow.”
Pilling, and why it stops
New merino often pills lightly in the first few weeks — short fibres working their way to the surface where friction rolls them into little bobbles. This is normal, temporary, and no reflection of quality. Remove them with a cashmere comb or a purpose-made fabric shaver, never by pulling, and you will find the pilling tails off as the short fibres exhaust themselves.
Cared for this way, a good merino jumper is a ten-year garment. Ours are knitted from RWS-certified yarn precisely because we expect them to be around long enough for the certification to matter.