"I don't care what the tag says; it's going in the wash with everything else." Sound familiar?
Garment care can be tricky and frustrating, but it can also really make a difference in how your clothes hold up over time. Here's a bit of insight into what all those laundering icons mean on the back of the tag.
For the most part, all of our #clothes are a cotton and polyester blend. Triblend fabrics typically include rayon. That means that you're pretty safe to treat them all the same. If you put them in the dryer, they will shrink up a bit the first time. After that, you should be good to go.
Here's a breakdown of washing instructions for our tees:
1) Wash at or below 30°C
2) Non-chlorine bleach only
3) Tumble dry at low temperature
4) Iron at low temperature
Some other commonly seen icons are:
1) Hand wash lukewarm temperature
2) Do not wash
3) Do not dry
4) Dry clean only
Keep in mind these are suggested guidelines from the manufacturer. The more delicately you treat your clothes better they'll look over time. I have one customer who handwashes our #tshirts and lays them flat to dry, and after three years, they look like the day she purchased them!
I don't have the patience for that; I also intentionally abuse our clothes to see first-hand how they wear. So everything of mine goes in a warm wash and straight into the dryer on nuclear.
I have another blog post that discusses pilling here.
If you purchased one of our toques this past fall, you might have noticed the washing instructions say, Do Not Wash. Strange, no? The toques are 100% acrylic which is washable but prone to shrinking at higher temperatures. When I questioned the manufacturer about it, they replied with, "We know most consumers default to putting everything in the dryer and don't follow #washing #instructions. So we just put the Do Not Wash icon on them.' LOL
The manufacturer said if the toques are washed by hand in lukewarm/cold water and laid flat to dry, they won't shrink.
Sometimes washing instructions air on the side of caution to prevent customer disappointment. Keep that in mind when you're holding your t-shirt over the dirty laundry pile.
If you're curious, here is a more complete guide for interpreting
WashingInstructions:
