Hoodies, sweatshirts, and sweatpants are popular leisurewear because of their unmatched comfort and style. These versatile causal pieces are great to wear at home and layer outside during the colder season. Unfortunately, the soft and fluffy touch of your favorite sweatshirts can diminish overtime.
Much like other clothing items, sweatshirts start to fade and lose their softness with frequent use. Fortunately, there are many clever methods on how to keep sweatshirts soft. In this post, I’ve gathered the best tips on how to keep hoodies soft even after frequent washing.
Through proper care, it’s possible to keep a hoodie or sweatshirt soft in the wash and last longer. Using these helpful tips, you can keep the inside of a sweatshirt soft and maintain the fluffy brand-new feel of clothes! Let’s get started!
I may earn a small commission for purchases made through links in this post at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Frugal Home Addict! Learn more about my disclaimer policy here.
Best Products To Keep Sweatshirts + Hoodies Soft
How To Keep Sweatshirts Soft
- Use A Mild Detergent
- Wash Sweatshirts + Hoodies In Cold Water
- Avoid Using Fabric Softeners + Dryer Sheets—Use Wool Dryer Balls Instead!
- Use A Garment Bag To Separate Sweatshirts From Other Clothes
- Turn Sweatshirts + Hoodies Inside Out Before Washing
- Avoid Frequent Washing—Use A Fabric Deodorizer To Freshen Up Sweatshirts
- Wash Sweatshirts With Other Similar Items
1. Use A Mild Detergent
Here’s a tip on how to keep sweatshirts soft: choose the right detergent. A mild detergent will help keep sweatshirts soft after washing and extend the life of your clothes. Mild detergents also help reduce fading and are more gentle on the skin.
Regardless of the detergent, it’s important to add an appropriate amount to the wash. Too much detergent can make your clothes felt stiff and hard. Make sure to always follow the manufacturer’s instructions!
To keep sweatshirts and hoodies soft in the wash, try using Tide’s Free & Gentle Laundry Detergent Liquid Soap. This product is hypoallergenic and great for people for sensitive skin. This is a great scent-free detergent to help keep the inside and outside of a sweatshirt soft!
2. Wash Sweatshirts + Hoodies In Cold Water
To prevent shrinking and fading, wash your sweatshirts and hoodies in cold water. Washing with cold water helps prolong the life of your clothes. As a bonus, it also reduces wrinkling and reduces your energy costs with every load.
Although washing your clothes in cold water has many benefits, it doesn’t mean you should always avoid using hot water. For example, if you need to sanitize and deep clean hoodies, it’s best to use hot water to kill germs and bacteria.
Note that the temperature of the water won’t impact how soft and fluffy your clothes are. Cold temperatures will help reduce fabric deterioration, but it won’t actually make fabric feel softer or harder. If you want to keep your hoodies, sweatshirts, and sweatpants soft and nice, it’s important take good care of your clothes and use a mild detergent.
Below, I’ve listed my favorite tip how to keep hoodies soft inside and out:
3. Avoid Using Fabric Softeners + Dryer Sheets—Use Wool Dryer Balls Instead!
If you’ve read other “How To Keep Sweatshirts Soft” posts from other sites, you might notice that some recommend you to air dry your clothes. Although air drying your clothes will reduce shrinking, these can cause fabrics to sometimes feel stiff and hard. If your clothes are stiff after air drying (and you want to continue air drying your clothes), make sure to use less laundry detergent.
One of the best hacks to make sweatshirts feel super soft and fluffy after washing is to throw them in the dryer with wool dryer balls! Unlike fabric softeners and dryer sheets which leave a coating of residue on your clothes, wool dryer balls contain no chemicals and can help fluff up stiff clothes.
Wool dryers balls are also super affordable, eco-friendly, and can last more than a thousand dryer loads! For super soft sweatshirts and hoodies, I recommend using Handy Laundry’s Wool Dryer Balls. These amazing balls come in a pack of 6 for around $12!
4. Use A Garment Bag To Separate Sweatshirts From Other Clothes
Looking for another tip on how to keep hoodies soft? To protect your hoodies, sweatshirts, sweatpants from rubbing against other clothes, try placing them inside a garment bag. These special meshed laundry bags are designed to prevent clothing damage during the washing process. As a bonus, they also make it super easy to separate and find certain items (like smaller socks and underwear).
Garment bags are usually made of a mesh material or fabric, which allows water and detergent to flow through them. These bags also help prevent your hoodies and sweatshirts from getting snagged on the washing machine’s components. Garment bags come in many different shapes and sizes so make sure to select one large enough to fit your hoodies.
For sweatshirts, I recommend using this extra large Mesh Laundry Bag set from Amazon. These supersized garment bags are 24 x 24 inches long which are ideal for large items. This is a great product to help keep hoodies feeling and looking new longer!
5. Turn Sweatshirts + Hoodies Inside Out Before Washing
If you don’t have a garment bag to protect your sweatshirts in the wash, don’t worry! Instead, try turning your clothes inside out before washing. This will help keep the outside of sweatshirts and hoodies feeling and looking soft longer.
This hack protects the outer layer of hoodies from rubbing against other items which also helps reduces pilling on the outside of your clothes! If your hoodies have zippers, make sure to also zip them up to prevent snagging. This is a great tip on how to keep sweatshirts soft even after washing!
6. Avoid Frequent Washing—Use A Fabric Deodorizer To Freshen Up Sweatshirts
Here’s a tip on how to keep hoodies soft: avoid washing them after every use. Frequent washing and drying can cause hoodies, sweatshirts, and sweatpants to lose their softness and shape overtime. Excess washing can also cause clothes to fade, making your sweatshirt look worn out.
To keep your sweatshirts and hoodies soft and fluffy, try wearing them a few times before washing. This will help keep hoodies soft inside longer and preserve the softness of your clothes. Since you wear clothes under your sweatshirts, you won’t need to wash them as regularly as underwear, socks, or shirts!
To help reduce odors between washing, try using a fabric deodorizer to freshen up your sweatshirts and hoodies. I highly recommend checking out this amazing Fabric Spray Deodorizer from The Laundress New York. This product makes stinky fabrics smell super clean and fresh! I love how their Fabric Fresh Scent smells like clean laundry!
7. Wash Sweatshirts With Other Similar Items
Wash your sweatshirts with other similar items like sweatpants and hoodies. This is because heavier fabrics (like jeans and towels) can cause excess friction and damage to lighter fabrics. Heavier items also tend to dry slower than lighter ones. This can cause over-drying for lighter items which can stress the fibers.
Here’s another tip on how to keep sweatshirts soft: to reduce friction, make sure to avoid overstuffing the washing machine. It’s important to have enough space for your hoodies and sweatshirts to move around. If your washing machine is constantly overstuffed, you can cause damage to your clothes and make them worn out faster.
Separating your laundry is the key to soft and fluffy clothes. If you don’t already, make sure to group clothes by similar colors (like darks and lights). This is because the dyes of darker colored clothes can stain lighter colored clothes. You can also wash extremely dirty laundry separately at a longer, heavy duty cycle.
Summarized: How To Keep Sweatshirts Soft
In this post, I’ve gathered the best tips on how to keep hoodies soft inside and out. Here are all the recommended products from this post in one convenient list:
- Tide Free & Gentle Laundry Detergent Liquid Soap
- Handy Laundry Wool Dryer Balls
- Sueriv 2 Pack Mesh Laundry Bag
- The Laundress New York Fabric Spray Deodorizer In Fabric Fresh Scent
Conclusion
As someone who loves wearing sweatshirts, I understand the struggle when your favorite sweatshirt loses its shape and softness. Although sweatshirts and hoodies can be tricky to take care of, a little effort can keep them feel significantly soft longer. In this post, I’ve gathered several helpful tips on how to keep sweatshirts soft.
It’s important to take proper care of your sweatshirts and sweatpants if you want them to be soft and fluffy for years. To keep your precious items looking new, make sure to follow the care instructions shown on their clothing tags. The laundry symbols specify the best method to clean your hoodies in the wash.
Here’s some key points from this post: use a mild detergent, protect hoodies and sweatshirts with garment bags in the wash, and avoid washing them after every use. I recommend using a fabric deodorizer to freshen up your sweatshirts and hoodies after every wash.
If your sweatshirts feel stiff and hard, you can try to fluff them up again by throwing them in the dryer with wool dryer balls. Wool dryer balls work similarly to dryer sheets and fabric softeners, and will help make both the outside and inside of a sweatshirt soft. This is a great tip to keep sweatshirts soft after washing.
I hope this post gave you some helpful tips on how to keep hoodies soft inside and out. Good luck!
