How to Hang Sweaters to Dry Without Stretching

In a perfect world we’d all have the space to lay sweaters flat to dry. But the reality is that most of us don’t have the room to give up for up to three days of drying time. It’s usually recommended that you not dry sweaters in a clothes dryer. So where does that leave us? Often the best solution is to hang a sweater to dry. Knowing how to hang sweaters to dry the right way keeps your sweater from stretching out of shape while it dries. Raising a family of five, including two daughters, has given me a whole bunch of experience hanging sweaters to dry.

At a glance: Use two sturdy hangers together to support the weight of a wet sweater. Drape the body across both hangers, fold the sleeves up over the top, and tuck the cuffs through to hold them in place. Lay a thick towel underneath and shift the sweater a few times a day. It’s a helpful method when you don’t have space to lay sweaters flat, and drying can take one to three days.

How to Hang Sweaters to Dry

Quick Steps: How to Hang a Sweater to Dry

1. Remove as much water as you can without twisting or wringing the sweater.
2. Hold two sturdy hangers together and drape the middle of the sweater’s body across both.
3. Fold each sleeve up over the top of the hangers, straightening and smoothing it as you go.
4. Slip each cuff through the two hangers so the sleeves stay in place and the weight is even.
5. Lay a thick towel underneath and change the sweater’s position a few times a day until it’s dry.

Here’s how I do each step, with photos.

Before you wash or dry any sweater you need to determine if you should dry clean it, hand wash or wash it in the clothes washer on the gentle cycle:

• Read the care instructions for that specific sweater
• Assess the fabric and weave of the sweater
• Assess the quality of the sweater
• Assess the weight of the sweater

When I wash sweaters in the clothes washer, I use a mesh delicates bag to protect the sweater from stretching and snagging.

After you wash the sweater, try to remove as much water as you can. Always read the directions on your particular sweater. Be careful not to twist or pull the sweater out of shape in an effort to remove water. To remove excess water, depending on the sweater, the fabric and how sturdy it is, I personally:

• Gently squeeze the water from the sweater
• Blot the water from the sweater with thick bath towels
• If I washed the sweater in the clothes washer on gentle, I sometimes run the spin cycle to remove excess water
• Run the sweater, still in the delicates mesh bag, on the gentle cycle of the clothes dryer for a short period of time to remove excess (drip on the floor) water, but not completely dry the sweate

Once I’ve removed excess water, I use two sturdy plastic hangers (these are Made in the USA!) to better support the weight of the wet sweater. I hang the middle of the body of the sweater across the two hangers.

I have installed a fold down drying rack  (similar) on the wall in my laundry room. This makes it possible for me to dry multiple items at the same time out of the way. My daughters each took a folding wood drying rack with them to college (and these are Made in the USA!).

I fold each sleeve, one at a time, over the top of the hanger. I take the time to straighten the sleeves and smooth out any wrinkles. Bringing the sleeves up this way helps keep them from stretching out with the weight of the water.

I slip the cuff of the sweater sleeve through the two hangers to hold it in place. Depending on how long the sleeves are, I pull more of the sleeve through the two hangers. You want to have the sweater evenly weighted as it hangs over the top of the hanger. If you leave too much of the sleeve hanging down, the weight of the water, working with gravity, will pull on the sleeve and stretch the sweater out of shape..

I lay a thick towel on the floor under the sweater to absorb any dripping water. Depending on how heavy your sweater is and how much water you were able to remove, the sweater can take one to three days to dry. I adjust the sweater and change its position on the hanger several times a day to speed the drying process and reduce the possibility of stretching the sweater out of shape.

I’ve been using these tips for how to hang a sweater to dry for years and it’s worked well for me. I have four sweaters hanging to dry right now. How do you dry your sweaters?

Sweater Drying Questions

More Tips for Sweaters

Best Sweater Storage Ideas – Everything you need to know in 30+ tips for the best sweater storage ideas and products from a professional organizer.

How to Dry Sweaters – 36 of the best tips and products to help you decide how to dry sweaters in your unique space and for your specific sweaters.

How to Fold and Hang Sweaters – The best way to store a sweater – to properly hang a sweater, with no shoulder bumps & it doesn’t ruin or stretch out.

How to Fold Clothes and More – How to Fold Clothes and More Keeping clothes and your home organized can be a challenged in today’s busy world. Knowing how to fold clothes properly to keep them neat and organized makes all the difference in reducing stress and mess. 

See my favorite clothes organizing tips, hacks, favorite products and more in the table below. You can scroll though the table and look for ideas or search for specific ideas with the magnifying glass in the upper right-hand corner (on desktop). Click on the topic and then click through the specific article.