The best merino wool sweaters and tops for women

Cardigans: Pullovers are closed in front. Cardigans are open in front and function like a knitted jacket.

No sleeves – aka poncho: features a relaxed fit which gives you room to move without restriction.

Wrap: also features a relaxed fit which gives you room to move without restriction and like cardigans, there are opened in front and won’t mess us with your hair every time you want to put it on and off.

Turtle neck: high neck helps keep you warm.

Thumbholes: they tend to make a sweater look more sporty but thumbholes help keep your sleeves in place and your hands warm. It makes it easier when you have to often put on and off another layer on top like a ski jacket.

Half Zip: A front zipper will give a more sporty look to your sweater. This feature is a good way to ventilate and let some heat out.

Want a hood?: if you want a top with a hood, check our merino wool hoodie article.

Most of the options listed below can be safely machine washed because we like convenience even though a top layer made of merino wool doesn’t need to be washed very often at all, even more so if you choose a dark color and wear a t-shirt under it. So you want to be mindful of that. Hang your merino wool clothes to ventilate into the fresh air instead. It is true anti-stink magic!

Note that it is actually best to wash the garment after wearing it a couple of times to remove any short fibers from the fabric in order to avoid future pilling.

When washing, don’t use detergents as they can affect the dye in wool and weaken the fibres. So use a gentle detergent to hand wash or use a gentle machine cycle at 30°C or less. Don’t use any softener and use a low spin or better yet, no spin and squeeze out the water, without wringing.

Be sure to not put it in the dryer as you want to be careful about the shape. It is typically best to lay your merino wool flat to air dry. This is particularly true for pullovers as they are heavier than a t-shirt for example. Hanging them while wet could result into bad form share as all the water would pile at the bottom.

Regarding pilling on knitwear: Pills occur naturally with friction and can be easily removed with a pilling comb or a fabric shaver.