What is the best way to handwash a sweater?

What does the tag say on the sweater? It will usually give you the best advice. If it says to handwash, it probably also says what temp to make the water.

There are detergents designed for use in handwashing. e.g. W**lite in the US.

What a pain! There is no “best way” – it’s all difficult! I usually just soak my sweaters in the sink with mild laundry soap. Rinse, rinse, and then rinse. Then I soak them again in fabric sofenter. Rinse. Wring them out but not too tight. I then lay out a bath towel, roll them up in the towel and walk on it to get out the excess water. Lay them flat to dry. I tried asking my dry cleaner if they did hand washing – NOPE – was the answer I got. Have fun!

BTW, if you ‘dry flat’ your sweaters, and if you have a towel warmer rack (flat style) that works pretty well to dry your sweaters faster than they would normally. (Towel warmer is not so hot as to shrink your sweater).

If they’re wool and require handwashing, Woolite is not the way to go—they changed the formula a few years ago and dialed the suck right up to 11.

If you find a local yarn store, look for something called Eucalan or Soak—they’re enzymatic cleaners. You mix the cleaner in with some water, put the sweater in it, move it around a bit only until it’s soaked through, then let it sit for an hour or so in the wool wash. Then you wring it out (using a towel technique such as @imhellokitty suggests), and lay it flat to dry. The cleaners are designed so that you don’t need to rinse them out or add fabric softener or conditioner.

Also, it’s worth reading the labels—although fabric softener is usually okay, there are some wool treatments and dyes that are not compatible with fabric softeners.

Thank you guys for your help!

Hold him down and use the scrubbing brush!