Let’s talk about dryers (and, to a lesser degree, washing machines):
Dryers are one of those things I never gave much thought to until I became concerned with the longevity of my wardrobe in general - while very convenient, dryers can take a massive toll on your clothing over time.
Broadly speaking, agitation from both the washer and dryer will degrade fabric over time. This won’t necessarily look like your clothing becoming thinner or seams breaking though - more likely what you’ll experience is the fibers at the top of the garment becoming microscopically frayed and worn, causing your garment to look older and ‘duller’. Dyed vs printed clothing can play a huge part in how noticeable this is as well: dyed fibers, as long as they are colorfast, tend to fade slower than printed apparel since the color is saturated all the way through. With printed apparel, the ink functions kind of like a tattoo - it sits in the upper layers of the fiber, which makes any damage to this area especially visible.
Polyester fabrics tend to have better resistance against degradation over time, which is a small reason why so much printed apparel is made with it. Natural fibers need a gentler hand to remain looking fresh! Much like with dyed hair, high heat and harsh detergents (and chlorinated water, if you have that!) can also fade ink/dye prematurely.
With this in mind, our recommended care instructions are: wash cold with lower spin, and hang to dry. Turn printed and embroidered clothing inside out to minimize the damage to those areas from agitation. Placing your clothing into a garment bag can be a great way to prevent damage from agitation even further! Please see the fiber-specific notes below for some exceptions to this 'general rule', such as tencel.
We recommend avoiding heat as much as possible, to avoid fading and shrinkage. If you cannot hang dry clothing, flipping the garments inside out and/or placing them in a bag while drying very low could work.
We hope you won’t find this explanation and guide too daunting, or become concerned that suddenly you need to treat our apparel/apparel in general like it’s made of cotton candy. There have been plenty of customers over the years who dry and wash their garments however they want, with no negative consequences! We put together this guide of ‘best practices’ just to keep you informed and give you the information you might need to keep your printed clothing looking good :)
PRINTED TENCEL:
(this includes the: skirts, bandanas, pillow covers, culottes)
Tencel is incredibly soft and pleasant against the skin, and a truly fantastic fabric all around. However, printed tencel needs some extra consideration to keep it looking good for a long time to come! (Also, in general, tencel could be considered a fairly delicate fabric as far as preserving color/texture goes!)
The best way to care for tencel would be to avoid agitation as much as possible - which means hand washing with cool water, a mild detergent and hang drying. If you can follow this care for the tencel, we really really recommend doing so!
PRINTED COTTON
(this includes: button downs, trousers, tees, joggers, etc.)
Our standard instructions of flipping the garment inside out, washing cold, and hang drying work well for our printed cotton apparel! Avoid heat since it can shrink the cotton over time.
These care instructions are good for the screenprinted tees as well!
LINEN
Since our linen is dyed, the risk for fading is lower. However, with this fiber you need to avoid two things: heat, which will shrink and damage linen, and agitation, which will damage any embroidered details over time. Turning the garment inside out and/or using a garment bag is recommended. Wash cold, hang dry!
OUTERWEAR
Spot clean as needed. If a deeper clean is needed, wash cold and place into a garment bag to protect the embroidery. For knit cardigans and sweaters, we recommend laying flat to dry. Jackets can be hung to dry.
