That amazing wool sweater cost you an arm and a leg, and now its dry-cleaning bill will cost you even more extremities! Suddenly, you start avoiding wearing that soft, amazingly warm Sheep's Sacrifice fearing that it'll sustain an impossible stain, or worse, a perspiration stench.

The paradox is unnerving. Until now.

Did you know that you could clean wool at home? Of course you didn't. Thats why you're here. Let me show you how.

Step 1: Soak

1 tbsp of dish soap
1 tbsp white vinegar
luke warm water. Take care to ensure the water is barely warm, no where near hot. This will do crazy things to the woolen fibers.

Submerge your sweater (or whatever other woolen article of clothing) into a tub filled with the water, dish soap, and white vinegar. Gently swish it around with your hand. Never wring! Let it stand for at least an hour.

Step 2: Wash

After about an hour take the sweater out, and empty out the tub. Refill the tub with warm water, and put the sweater back in. Swish with your hand, gently. We're just trying to remove any soap residue. Never wring!

Once you're tired of swishing (really, it should take you only a couple of minutes) take out the sweater and ball it up in your hands, squeezing but not wringing. Never wring! Once it is no longer dripping water, we're ready to dry! This is the fun part. Relatively.

Step 3: Dry

Lay out your sweater on a bath towel, evening out any wrinkles and creases with the back of your hand. Fold the arms in like you would if you were wearing it while waiting for the bride to walk down the aisle, and you're the best man. (Pat on the back for a great analogy)

I'm on a roll. Well, we're all about to be. Taking one edge of your towel, roll it all the way to the other end, rolling the sweater up as you go. Wool is delicate and needs to be handled in kind or the threads can get out of whack. Squeeze as you roll up. Repeat a couple of times, until the sweater is barely damp. If your towel doesn't seem to be absorbing any more water, grab another.

Step 4: Wear!

For a final touch, I usually take the second, dryer towel, and place it over my sweater, and run a warm iron over it to get any remaining wrinkles out.

You're now ready to don your clean, freshly smelling sweater. And fear not of stains henceforth. You now are proficient in the art of wool-cleaning.