How to Care for Cashmere: Washing, De-Pilling and Storage That Prevents Moths

The fear around cashmere care is mostly misplaced. Good Housekeeping’s Institute — whose cleaning lab has tested laundry methods for over a century — points out that cashmere is actually durable for a fine fiber and that most plain sweaters, scarves, and hats can be washed at home, either by hand or on a careful machine cycle. The two things that genuinely destroy it are heat and agitation, and both are easy to avoid once you understand why.

What heat and agitation actually do

Like other wool fibers, cashmere fibers carry tiny overlapping scales on their surface. In cool, still water those scales lie quietly; add heat or vigorous motion and they grab onto each other, lock, and shrink the knit into felt — the irreversible shrinkage that turns a sweater into a child’s size. That single mechanism explains most of the rules below: cool water keeps the scales relaxed, gentle pressing instead of wringing keeps them from interlocking, and the lowest machine spin exists so the sweater is never whipped around. It also explains why the dryer is never part of the process, no matter what the label says.

Washing: cool water, gentle hands, flat drying

Hand wash in cool water with a wool-safe detergent — Woolite or a dedicated cashmere wash both work. Pre-treat stains by working a little detergent in with your fingertips, never scrubbing. Submerge the sweater, press the soapy water through gently, and let it soak up to 30 minutes, the method the Good Housekeeping Institute recommends. Rinse in fresh cool water until the water runs clear, then never wring. Roll the sweater in a clean towel and press to absorb moisture: a wet cashmere sweater lifted by the shoulders will stretch permanently under its own water weight.

Dry flat on a fresh towel, reshaping to its original dimensions — knits dry in whatever shape you leave them. Take a minute on this step: match the sleeves to the body, square up the hem, and lay the whole piece to the width it had before washing, because a sweater dried two inches narrow stays two inches narrow. Wash only once or twice per season; over-washing is itself a cause of pilling and shrinkage. Use steam to release wrinkles, not an iron — direct pressure flattens the loft that makes cashmere feel like cashmere.

Cool water, gentle pressing, then flat on a towel — never a wring in sight.

Machine washing, when the label allows it

The Institute’s Carolyn Forte confirms most machine-washable cashmere survives a cold wool cycle: inside out, in a mesh bag, at the lowest spin. The mesh bag matters more than it looks — it keeps the sweater from catching on a zipper or a bra clasp in the drum, and a single snag can pull a loop clear through a fine knit. The care label is the decision point here. If it says hand wash only, the yarn or the construction is the reason, and a machine cycle gambles the whole sweater on that. If it lists machine washing, the maker has tested for it and the cold wool cycle is a reasonable time-saver for sturdy plain pieces.

De-pilling: manage the friction

Pilling is a friction symptom, not a quality verdict. Pills form where the sweater rubs — under the arms, at the sides where a crossbody bag strap sits, where a coat sleeve crosses it. The consensus across knitwear guides is that a good sweater actually pills less over time as loose surface fibers wear away. Manage it: rest a piece at least 24 hours between wears so fibers recover, and remove pills with a cashmere comb or fabric shaver using light strokes, only when the garment is completely dry. Never pick pills by hand — that pulls intact fibers out with them, and every fiber pulled out thins the yarn exactly where the sweater already rubs hardest.

Storage that actually prevents moths

It is the larvae, not the adult moths, that eat knitwear — and they are drawn to the traces of body oil and food residue left on worn garments, not to clean fiber. That makes the rule simple: wash before storing, even a sweater worn once. Make sure it is fully dry, then fold — hanging stretches shoulders permanently — and store in a sealed container for the off-season, with cedar blocks or lavender sachets added. Cedar scent fades within months, so sand the block lightly or add a drop of cedar oil each season, or the deterrent stops working. If holes appear, freeze the garment at -18°C for at least 72 hours, which kills every life stage of the moth, then clean it.

A seasonal routine

Put together, the care calendar is short. During the season: air a sweater for a day after wearing, rest each piece 24 hours between wears, and comb pills off when they show. Between seasons: one wash, one full drying day, a fold into a sealed box with refreshed cedar, and the box goes on a shelf rather than a damp basement or attic. Twice a season, check the boxes for tell-tale holes so any moth problem is caught at the first garment instead of the fifth — a pinhead hole is already an active infestation, and catching it then means one sweater to freeze rather than a drawer. None of it takes more than an afternoon a year, and it is the difference between a sweater that lasts decades and one that lasts a season — the kind of piece worth shortlisting in our best cashmere sweaters guide, and a core skill for anyone following a capsule wardrobe checklist. The same fiber-first logic explains why some fabrics survive years of washing while others fail — see the fabric guide.