Yes, You Can Wash Cashmere Sweaters At Home — Here’s How

For the most part, I’ve always been a goody-two-shoes. I generally follow the rules (this girl never even had a fake ID in college!), and if the rules say "dry-clean only" — you better believe I’m begrudgingly paying $20 to launder one (1) fancy sweater. (This, in addition to the premium I pay for luxe fiber contents like cashmere, merino, alpaca, and the like.) Well, anyway — here I was, minding my own business, when who should pop up on my feed but The Laundress, the New York-based status laundry brand that made headlines for all the wrong reasons in 2022. The brand announced a massive product recall after it was discovered that select products contained bacteria that could be potentially harmful to humans. (I’d used The Laundress products for years and never experienced adverse reactions, but alas — in the bin they went.)

After the voluntary recall, the brand went back to the drawing board and re-released new formulations of its core products that “reaffirm our commitment to the highest standards of consumer safety and quality.” One of these was the Wool & Cashmere Shampoo — a gentle, plant-based detergent suitable for your most delicate fabrics. It sounded too good to be true, but if it could end up saving me hundreds of dollars over the lifetime of my most beloved sweaters, I was game to try. (This, and the fact that the brand reformulated it after going dark for seven months.)

According to the brand, the Wool & Cashmere Shampoo is suitable for wool, cashmere, merino, and mohair, including any blends​ of the above. Typically, these fabrics don't tend to do well in the wash, often shrinking to comical proportions if care instructions aren't followed to a T. However, in the name of journalism, I sought out to see if this stuff worked. Fresh off a trip to Toronto, I had to clean three 100% cashmere sweaters I wore during my stay. Normally — and sorry if this is gross — if my stuff isn't reeking of B.O., I'll air it out and re-wear it. (Listen: I'd be in massive credit card debt if I dry-cleaned my sweaters after a single wear.)

Per The Laundress' instructions, I began by turning my cashmere sweaters inside out and placing them in a mesh pouch. (The Laundress makes some of the roomiest ones I've seen, but you can find many alternatives elsewhere), and tossed it into the washing machine. Next, I set my machine to cold water and the delicates cycle, and I carefully measured out 10 mL of detergent. Then, all there was left to do was hit the "start" button and pray my sweaters made it out gracefully.

One hour later, my wash cycle was complete. I took my sweaters out of the mesh bag and laid them flat to dry on a rack. At first feel, they felt a little soapy — almost as if I'd soaked them in conditioner — and I panicked. Luckily, this residue-y feeling disappeared as the fabric dried completely. After about three hours, they were totally dry and felt even softer than pre-wash. There was no hint of color fading, and they were more or less the same size — which was my most important success metric. (It's worth noting that aside from some lingering deodorant smells, I didn't have any intense stains or odor to address. For anything that requires more attention, I'd probably still leave that to the experts and send it in for dry-cleaning.) The Cedar scent was also really subtle, which is good news if you hate cloying or overwhelming detergent fragrances.

At $30 for a 16-fluid-ounce bottle, this stuff isn't cheap (it's still The Laundress, after all), but I can see how you can girl math the heck out of it and come out ahead when compared to dry-cleaning. (According to the brand, a single bottle lasts 31 uses.) At first touch, my skin didn't appear to have any reactions to it, but time will tell if that continues to be the case. After last year's controversy, I'm sincerely hoping the brand has figured its stuff out. And TBH, if this bougie detergent continues to effectively and gently clean my plushest turtlenecks, cardigans, and more, then consider the game fully changed in this household.