5 tips for washing and maintaining clothes

This article is about our cotton fabrics (tricot, stretch sweatshirt). The care of merino wool clothes is discussed in a separate article later.

Washing and maintaining clothes is commonplace for many people, but do you ever stop to think about your laundry habits? The same washing temperature or the same drying methods do not work for all materials. Our fabrics and clothes have their own washing instructions, other brands may have different ones.

1 – Washing temperature 40 degrees

Our washing instructions for our digitally printed fabrics are always 40 degrees. This applies to the first wash (pre-wash) as well as all washes after that. Our patterned fabrics are always digitally printed unless otherwise stated, and for this reason the washing instructions are always the same at 40 degrees. The colors of digitally printed fabrics do not need to be fixed in the first wash at a hotter temperature, and our factories guarantee the colors for washing at 40 degrees.

Monochrome, through-dyed fabrics can also be washed at 60 degrees. However, this is always stated separately in the product information of these products. However, 40 degrees is also a suitable washing temperature for our single-colored fabrics.

2 – No tumble drying

Tumble dryers are very common these days, we know that. However, the tumble dryer wears the fabric mechanically and also shrinks the clothes more than the washing machine. Our fabric factories' instructions are that digitally printed fabrics should not be put in the dryer either. However, since we know many people use these, we also test all our fabrics in the dryer and they usually hold up well in the drum. However, we cannot recommend a drum for drying, but our advice is to dry the clothes, for example, with a hanger, in which case the garment dries directly into its beautiful shape. However, if you use a tumbler, never use it to dry completely. This is how you avoid the biggest problems.

3 – Turn the garment inside out for washing

To save the surface of the right side of the garment, you should always turn the garment inside out before putting it in the washing machine. A good rule of thumb is to learn to turn the garment inside out already when putting it in the laundry basket. This can be taught to children too! Patterned clothes in particular stay better this way for much longer, as the patterned surface does not constantly rub against other clothes and the washing machine during washing.

4 – If necessary, iron on medium heat

Most of the time, our clothes do not need to be ironed and they are therefore easy everyday clothes. However, if you are particularly particular and want to keep the garment in its best condition, it can be ironed after washing and drying. In this case, adjust the iron to 2 points, which in most irons is a maximum of 150 degrees. Ironed clothes are always sharp!

5 – Cotton always shrinks in the first wash

Slight shrinkage in the garment is normal in the first wash. In most of our clothes, this is less than 5% and for the most part the shrinkage takes place in the longitudinal direction. So if you are unsure about the size of the garment, remember to consider this shrinkage as well! Elastic sweatshirt shrinks more than tricot, also more in the lengthwise direction. However, the tumble dryer is the main enemy of elastic jeans and we really do not recommend ever putting clothes made from it in the drum.

Our clothes last best when you remember the rule of thumb: inside out at forty degrees without a drum! This will get you far in clothing maintenance.