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Any man worth his wool will tell you that when it comes to sweaters, your motto should be more wear and less wash. But after eight to ten wearings, your knitwear will be in need of cleaning. Hand washing at home is actually the best way to preserve your sweater's softness and luster. In fact, dry cleaning can stiffen and actually damage wool fibers, especially cashmere.

Scrub your sink and fill 3/4 full with cold water. If you don't have a special detergent like Woolite, you can add in two spoonfuls of regular hair shampoo, stir and then immerse your sweaters into the water.

After soaking for five minutes, swish around and work the suds through the fabric. Drain sink and rinse with cool water to remove suds. Ball sweater slightly and press out excess water.

Lay sweater on a clean towel and pat sweater into shape* stretching slightly if needed. Roll up sweater and towel tightly together to remove water. Unroll and layout (on a dry towel, if need be) to dry completely.

* Worried about shrinkage?

Before washing, measure sweater in four places: across the chest, shoulder to shoulder, across the bottom and along the outside of each arm. Use the measurements to reshape your sweater into the pre-wash proportions.