Your laundry guide – The best care tips
Caring for your printed clothes properly is ESSENTIAL for keeping them in tip-top condition, from the shape to the print, the quality is in the care. There are infinite ways we can damage our prints without even realizing, whether it’s washing them – ironing them or something as simple as storing them in the wrong way. Disclaimer, you can’t put full trust into care labels. These labels are often not designed with the print in mind, therefore can’t be your clothes care
Washing
There’s a lot more to washing an item than throwing it into the machine and hoping for the best, especially when it comes to printed tees. Before you even get round to the actual washing remember to separate everything, your darks from your lights (to stop colors running) and also your jeans from your tee’s (to stop any print peeling).
Also, a little trick learned from the ever-informative Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Remember that show? By turning the tee inside out before washing (and drying) you prevent it from rubbing against other fabrics and preserve the ink. This little magic trick doesn’t only apply to printed T-shirts, many garments greatly benefit from being turned inside out. This technique will prevent colors from fading too quickly and fabric retaining quality.
When you finally get down to business and get the clothes in the machine, go easy on them. Avoid bleach at all costs and avoid strong detergents, play it safe with a mild soap, your clothes will thank you later! The last thing to remember when washing your printed tees, despite popular belief, cold washing still effectively cleans your clothes. It’s a win-win situation, you protect your print from fading in the heat of the machine and save on the electricity bill, better for you, better for the planet.
Drying
The best way to dry your clothes is a good old-fashioned washing line, remember those? This way you avoid unexpected shrinkage, destroying your print, and an inevitable tantrum. The heat generated from the dryer and hot water washing are the major causes of clothing shrinkage, particularly if you’re washing cotton.
When you go au natural and hang your clothes out, make sure to do it away from direct contact with sunlight. Light (especially coming from the sun) is particularly dangerous for colors. You may wonder how your t-shirts survive the day when you’re wearing them outside, the difference here is you rarely spend long hours with sunlight hitting you directly.
Living up north in the cold weather?! use the dryer on a low tumble dry.
Other Tips & Rules
Besides washing it inside out are other considerations on how to wash DTG printed T-shirts. When washing, try to limit the time your tee spends hanging out in the soapy water. DO NOT use a brush when washing, if the print comes into contact with a brush it’s a guaranteed write-off – be warned. Although it might be tempting, never wring out your shirt, or throw it in the dryer. Slow down and find somewhere in the shade (sun discounters) to hang it out then let nature do its thing.
STAIN AROUND MY SHIRT
Not to worry — this outline will disappear after the first wash!
Our shirts are pre-treated with a special solution prior to printing to ensure high quality and color correctness. A small amount of this solution may remain on the shirt and appear as an off-color stain. This residue will disappear after you wash the shirt.